


centre - newtmas

by hollyivy



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Bisexual Thomas (Maze Runner), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Gay Newt (Maze Runner), In the Maze, M/M, POV Newt (Maze Runner), Pre-The Maze Runner, Sad Newt (Maze Runner), WICKED | WCKD is Not Good, alternate maze, newtmas - Freeform, not just set in a boarding school, pov thomas maze runner, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29536575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollyivy/pseuds/hollyivy
Summary: newt is at boarding school, and shares a room with thomas - the most insufferable person he has ever met - but after a talk with headmistress ava paige, newt and thomas realise how important they'll be to each other, and how much they need to trust each other.
Relationships: Newt & Thomas (Maze Runner), Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey! i'm copying this over from wattpad & will update it both on there and here :)  
> the chapters are significantly shorter than the average on ao3 that i've seen, so if i can't find a way to join them together, sorry in advance & hope u enjoy anyway !!
> 
> this story contains not very graphic depictions of violence, death, struggles with mental health. it also references needles & medical labs. if there is ANYTHING at all you feel is worth tagging, please don't hesitate to tell me. even if it feels small, i don't want to upset or trigger anyone unnecessarily. 
> 
> ALSO : the pov is static in this chapter, but later on it switches often and tends to be half a chapter with newt and the other half with thomas, (sometimes more, yikes) just a warning in advance :)

Newt was sitting by the window, watching the sun sink below the towers on southern campus, sighing to himself. Yet another night, where he wouldn't be sleeping. He barely sleeps now for more than one reason. One of them, probably the most prominent, is his brain. It wont turn off, he's always thinking about his sister Lizzy or Sonya. He shudders. Sonya was the name they forced on her. Newton was his, but he preferred Newt. He had to leave her behind when he was sent to this stupid, tiring, shithole of a school. And worse, it's all boys.

The other is his maddening roomate Thomas, who won't shut up. Just thinking of him makes Newt's head ache. Thomas was immature and loud, and he didn't even want to start thinking about the boy's friendship group. Almost worse than Thomas himself. They all acted higher than everyone else, in the apparent social status hierarchy, Newt was at the bottom, and Thomas was at the top. Maybe he was a nice enough boy, but Newt had never been interested in finding out. Newt just detested his sappy hazel eyes and his messy brown hair which he always flicked away from his eyes. Ew.

"Newt?" Speak of the devil. He rolls his eyes before turning round to face him.

"What is it, Thomas?" He asks, projecting the lowest amount of energy possible.

"Principal Paige told me you have to go her office, now."

That's weird, He's never been called to the principle before. He nods. "Thank you"  
He smiles and turns on his heel and walks toward his friend waiting at the end of the corridor. Gally. Another one of his loyal followers. He lets out a yawn, and checks his watch. 5pm. Huh. The lack of sleep catching up to him, finally.

He makes his way down the hallway, his shoes silent against carpeted floor, running his hands against the wooden panelling on the walls. The principals office sits at the end of the hallway. Principal Ava Paige is engraved in a golden plate on the door. He inhales and knocks.

"Come in Newton!" She says, her voice ringing in his ears.

He pushes open the door and closes it behind him.  
"Take a seat by my desk. Would you like a drink of water?"

"No thank you Ms Paige. I'm alright."

She nods, clasping her hands in front of her. "So, you're probably curious as to why you're here, am I correct?"

He nods. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. You're not in trouble."

"I wasn't worrying." She glares at him for a moment. He looks at his feet, suddenly embarrassed. His wit got the better of him.

"Teaching staff have being airing their concern that you're excessively tired, and you aren't applying yourself in classes. Is anything going on?"

He wants to tell her about Thomas, but he actually hasn't done anything to disrupt his sleep, it's rather the thought of him and how infuriating he is that's keeping Newt up at night.

"Nothing is wrong Ms Paige. I just find it hard to fall asleep. Don't worry about me." He says. But he's not sure that nothing is wrong. He's different here, he doesn't know how but he is. He doesn't fit in. The other boys act differently around him, like there's something he's missing. Like he has some disease.

He is so wrapped up in thought he forgets he is being spoken to.

"Newton, are you listening to me?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. My mind is someplace else."

She inhales sharply. "Just promise me Newton, no matter what changes in your life in the next few years or-" She stops to shudder. "or months, trust yourself. Trust Thomas too, you'll need him.

Thomas? He frowns and a small bubble of anxiety creeps into his stomach. Why Thomas? Why him? Of all the people on the planet he has to place his trust in someone he detests? Great, he thinks. Life is looking fantastic.

"I promise Ms Paige. Thank you"

She smiles and beckons for him to leave. He walks away and closes the door slowly behind him. The bell rings for dinner, so he turns right and head down to the canteen. He bumps into the one person he wanted to avoid.

"Watch it Newton." Thomas says, sudden hostility possessing him.

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever mate. We need to talk later, as much as I'd rather not. Before bed."

"Alright. It better be worth it." He says flicking his hair from his eyes and walking past Newt. He watches him as he walks away. His hands are tucked into the pockets of their black school blazers. He turns his head to look into a mirror on the wall. His cheekbones are prominent, and his jawline is sharp. He's still looking in the mirror. Another reason to dislike him, he's vain too.

He shakes his head and stops looking at him and continues making his way to dinner, focusing on how hungry he was and not thinking about Thomas.

"God, the food here is terrible" Frypan says, looking at his plate in disgust. His name was weird, Newt thought. Why Frypan? They could have stuck with his true name, Toby. Newt liked that better.  
Not that he cared. He barely spoke to Frypan, he didn't like anyone at this bloody school anyway.

Sitting in front of Newt was a plate of beef stew, and rice.  
"I could do so much better, my stew would be killer, I know it" Frypan added, before shovelling it into his mouth. He rolled his eyes, standing up from the table and nodding goodbye to the others at the table. Winston and Jeff. They nodded back at him, simply acknowledging his presence, nothing more. He liked it that way.

After leaving his tray in the tray disposal area, he was aware of his mind whurring, he was thinking about what Principal Paige said to him, he was also, — although he really wished he wasn't — thinking about Thomas. Why this boy, who he detests, takes up so much of his mind, he doesn't know. He shakes his head and returns to his room.

He pushes open the door, and there is Thomas, his legs propped up on his desk, a book in one hand, an apple in the other.  
"Hi" Thomas says, nodding in his direction, while his eyes skim the pages of his book.  
"Hey. What are you reading?"  
He looks up from his book, an eyebrow raised.  
"Why the sudden interest in me?"  
Newt smirks. "So a guy isn't allowed to ask a question without being questioned himself?"  
Thomas raises his hands in protest. "Woah okay, okay. I'm reading about this organisation called WCKD, I stole it from the restricted area of the library, it's really crazy. I can't decided if its real or not."  
Newt tilts his head and pushes his mind back to his conversation with Ms Paige, he's sure he heard that name before, but nothing clicks. "What does it stand for?"  
"World In Catastrophe Kill-zone Department. Sounds intense right?"  
Newton nods. "Maybe it has something to do with what Ms Paige told me, if it's real anyway. Do you have time? If you don't have time just because you wanna go play with your hair with your drippy friends, then I honestly don't think you deserve to know what I'm going to tell you."  
"There's my Newton, that's the Newton I know." Thomas says, laughing. "I'm just staying here, I have time."  
Newt walks over to his bed and sits down, untying his shoes and placing them beside his bed. He's anxious, because he feels Thomas' eyes tracking him, following the movement of his hands. He's afraid to lift his eyes up to meet his.

Newt slowly sits up straight, taking a deep breath and allowing himself to feel confident in front of Thomas, but as soon as they look at each other, the confidence vanishes and Newt anxiously looks at his hands, that rest in his lap. He mumbles some kind of apology under his breath.  
"Newt?"  
"Yeah?"  
"It's okay."

His chest feels warms and light at it's centre and he smiles at Thomas, slightly, nodding a thank you. He realises how distracted he has become. He needs to tell Thomas about what Ms Paige said earlier, before it slips from his mind, though he doubts it will.

"So, Ms Paige, she told me something, and I'll be honest, I zoned out for half of it...."

Thomas chuckled.

"...Shut up. This is important"  
Thomas mocks sitting up straight and pretends to straighten his tie.  
Newt rolls his eyes and continues. "She basically said no matter what happens in the next few years or months, you have trust yourself and Thomas, because you need him." Newt pauses. "No bloody offence but I fully wanted to throw myself off a cliff thinking about it."   
Thomas frowns, pushing his hair back from his face. "Why would you ever need me?"  
"Exactly."  
"... and these next few years or months or whatever? What does that even mean? .. is the apocalypse gonna start or something?"  
"I bloody hope so, maybe a zombie will finally eat me and put me out of my misery."  
Thomas raises both eyebrows at him. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that freaky brain of yours.."  
"The feelings mutual, bloody believe me."  
Thomas stands up and walks over to Newt's bed. "Can I sit?" Beckoning to the space beside Newt.  
Newt nods. Thomas flops down beside him, bouncing slightly as his body hits the mattress.  
"Watch it." Newt says, a small fire lighting behind his voice. Thomas just leans his back against the wall, their shoulders pressed together.  
"Can I tell you something?" Thomas says. "Don't ask why I'm suddenly talking to you, but I feel like I can trust you, and apparently I need to, so..." Thomas inhales.  
"You know that injection we had, like three months ago?"  
Newt nods, pushing his mind back to try and picture the day.  
"Well, you know afterwards, everyone kinda went loopy, some more than others, the worse ones were screaming or passing out?"  
Newt sees it clearly. He was one of the boys who passed out, but he says nothing and nods.  
"Nothing. I felt nothing. I had to pretend to pass out, because in all honesty, I was terrified that I was a freak. I don't want to be a freak, Newton."  
"Tell me about it." Newt mutters.  
"What do I do? I can't be the only person who feels like this, can I? I can't be alone."  
He sees Thomas working himself up into hysteria, and does something unnatural, something old Newton would have shuddered at the thought of. He rests his hand on Thomas' and squeezes.

"You're not alone" Newt says, his usually sharp, bitter voice, softening. He doesn't want Thomas to feel the loneliness he feels often, as much as he dislikes him. He wouldn't wish that upon anyone. "Mate, believe me, you're definitely not a freak. I know what it's like, it's...." Newt pauses. "It's hard, feeling so isolated and judged, and I honestly don't know what it is, but I'm different too. See, I already have a bloody example. You're not alone."

Thomas remains still, but inhales and exhales deeply. "Thank you. I'm sorry, that you uh... feel this way. Life sucks."

"It really does." Newt says. "What's the time?"

"8:30pm"

Newt feels his eyes drooping, and his body aching to lie into bed and sleep for hours, but no, it's only 8:30pm, and he doubts he'll sleep tonight. He has so much to think about. But his brain aches. He actually feels tired, and after a moment he realises how relaxed he is, although his hand is still on top of his enemies, and his enemy is leaning on him.

"Thomas?" Newt says.  
"Mhm" The boy mumbles in reply.

"I think I'm gonna get ready for bed early tonight. And I promise you, when I say this I'm being completely honest; I haven't been genuinely tired in weeks. I've not slept more than 3 hours for weeks. I kinda need this."

Thomas suddenly sits upright, and looks him in the eyes.

"How are you alive?"

Newt shrugs, he feels like the living dead twenty-four seven.

"Coffee is a miracle you know."

Thomas shakes his head in a disapproving manner.

"Not to be soft on you, because don't forget we're enemies still." He says, his eyes lighting up with a grin. "But you need to sleep, get changed, I'll shut up for once. If I had any part in keeping you awake I'm sorry, I'm a bit annoying sometimes."

"Now you tell me..." Newton says, rolling his eyes, although inside he's kind of relieved the ice has somewhat broke between them, or the walls that stood between them are slowly coming down. It would be nice to have a friend, or a frenemy. Either is good compared to no one.

Newt starts to loosen his tie and hangs it on the hook on the back of their door. He grabs his pyjamas that are folded beneath his pillow and goes into the bathroom that connects to the dorm next door, and walks to a cubicle and shuts the door, maybe he's more comfortable with Thomas now but not that comfortable.

He's changed in 2 minutes. He's used to this now. It's a part of his routine. Avoiding Thomas was previously his prime motive and the crucial part of his daily schedule, but he hopes he can put that behind him. He realises how stupid he was. Thomas is a boy, maybe a bloody stupid boy, but a boy nonetheless. He's never known what went on behind the styled but messy hair, and the laughing face. Newton makes a vow to himself that he'll change. Maybe he'll finally climb out of his own arse, and look at others for once.

He pushes open the cubicle door to see Thomas brushing his hair in the mirror, he opens his mouth to make a comment, but stops himself, remembering what he thought literally seconds ago. He just smiles instead, and makes his way back into their room to retrieve his toothbrush and goes to the sink nearest to the door, and furthest from Thomas. He stares into the mirror at the pale, sandy blonde haired boy staring back at him. He looks so tired. He splashes his face with water and stops staring at himself and focuses on brushing his teeth instead.

He spits in the sink, washes out his mouth and makes his way to bed, his limbs still heavy, and his eyes still drooping, he pulls back his cover and slips into bed, and before switching off his light, looks across the room at Thomas, who is lying on his bed in a blue t-shirt, and shorts, a book in his hands. Newton smiles to himself and turns to press the switch on his light.

"Goodnight, Newt" Thomas says.

Newt is taken aback. Newt? Thomas has never called him that ever before. It was always Newton, or nothing. 

"If we're choosing nicknames, I pick..."

Newt goes over a few in his head. Tom. No, too sweet and personal. Tommo. Nope, embarrassing.

Tommy. That's the one. The perfect amount of sincerity but also a hint of patronising in there somewhere.

"Goodnight Tommy."

He hears Thomas laugh in the dark. He closes his eyes his shoulders finally light and his head clear.

Finally, sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's quite a busy chapter :
> 
> newt has a nightmare. he tells thomas about it, they have a moment. it's cute i promise   
> gally also bullies newt, causing a reaction from thomas.   
> ava paige & janson give a speech to the boys, it's urgent and important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pov switches newt - thomas - newt (sorry)

newt:

Newt wakes up his heart pounding and his palms sweaty, he almost feels like crying, until he realises how stupid that would be. He's safe, it was just a dream.  
He promptly sits up and flicks on the lamp beside his bed and breathes deeply, in attempt to calm his nerves.  
"Newt?"  
Thomas stirs in the bed across from him and looks at the boy with squinted eyes.  
"You ok?"  
Newt sighs. Great.  
"Yeah Tommy, it's all good, just a bad dream."  
"Worth talking about?"  
Newt almost declines, but he realises how much he actually wants to tell Thomas, he's always had thousands of anxieties and bad dreams that built up on his shoulders, weighing him down. He'd never had someone that he wanted, or could tell. This is good for him, as much as he's trying to convince himself it's not.  
"Okay... uh yeah I guess so." Newt says, stuttering slightly.  
Thomas, in hearing this, immediately sits up and gestures for him to begin.  
"I'm all ears."  
Newt hesitates for a moment, starting to think he's being insane. On the one hand, he's disgusted at himself for giving in to Thomas and trusting him so quickly. But otherwise, he's borderline desperate to tell him, he has someone to listen, so why waste the listener by not speaking at all? He inhales.  
"It starts with the snow. It always does. The snow, the image, always the same. I'm always sitting, clutching my little sisters hand, watching the snow fall past the window, waiting for the inevitable." He shivers, almost like he's there, young and vulnerable, his heart ridden with fear. He doesn't want to think about it, not now. "This time, it was different. I saw sand, there was sun, everything around me was crumbling, the heat burned my skin. I heard calls, groans even. There was fire." He pushes his mind back to the memories of the dream he had barely minutes ago. "I felt fire enveloping my entire body, and I can bloody tell you, it hurts like hell. Or it felt like it hurt."

Thomas shakes his head. "Imagine living in a world like that. I hate dreams like that, you know? Sometimes they feel they could be real, maybe they are, but they aren't happening to you, and you can't help but feel so insanely lucky."

Newt nods, in silence. He has no idea how to reply to that.  
"Get some sleep okay?. See you in the morning." Thomas sighs, turning over to face the wall so Newt can't see his face.  
He switches off the light and pulls the duvet up and over his head, and falls back into a numb and dreamless sleep.

thomas:  
He lies on his back, eyes fixed on the ceiling. He just finished the book he was reading, about the WCKD organisation, and what he read puzzled him.  
Printed on the final page was the phrase ; 'WCKD is good.'  
Although a part of him believes these words are brand new to him, he can't help but think he's heard them before. He shakes his head and sits up, and putting his attention to the boy sleeping across the room from him.  
Newt lies on his side, his hair over his eyes. His chest is rising and falling as he sleeps, a quiet snoring, like a hum, fills the room.  
Thomas sits in silence for a moment, before getting up to shower. He pulls his towel off the back of his chair and grabs his jeans and t-shirt. He has plans to spend the day with Gally, but he's so tired of how ignorant and self centred Gally has become. He never listens to what Thomas has to say anymore, not like he used to. Like something was altered in his brain. But of course, it just could be his personality.  
He walks barefoot to a shower cubicle and pushes the dial to turn it on, leaving his hand under the spray to check the temperature, before shutting and locking the door behind him. The pulls off his pyjamas and steps under the shower head, letting the hot water relax his muscles and wash away everything from the previous day.  
He hears the door open, followed by footsteps towards the cubicle beside him. The shower turns on, and the room is silent, minus the sound of the showers against the floor, and against their bodies.  
Thomas quickly becomes unnerved by the silence and decides he's clean enough, and pushes the dial back to turn off the shower. He grabs his towel and dries himself off, before pulling his shirt over his head and sliding into his jeans. Before leaving the cubicle he hears two boys enter, speaking to one another. He fails to recognise the first voice talking, and he waits in silence to hear the other.  
"That Newt kid is so freaky right? I saw Thomas talking to him in the hallway yesterday..." Thomas frowns, praying Newt isn't in the cubicle beside him, so he doesn't have to bare listening to this. Thomas is almost embarrassed that it's his 'friend' Gally talking about Newt like that.  
He pushes open the cubicle door, and stands in front of Gally, eyebrow raised.  
"There you are!" Gally says, glancing at Thomas.  
"What's that about Newt?" Thomas asks, trying to hide any emotion in his voice.  
"Oh yeah. What's with you talking to him? You know we don't concern ourselves with nobodies." Gally says, laughing.  
What a dick, Thomas thinks.  
Thomas scoffs. "Nobodies? Gally, that's rich coming from you. I don't think he's the only nobody around here if you're the one making stupid remarks about him behind his back."  
Gally looks taken aback, and he raises his stupid and overly expressive eyebrows at Thomas.  
"Woah. Is little Tommy getting brave now?" Gally adds. Thomas is unsure whether Gally is angry or mocking him, but either way, he's so tired of him.  
"Don't call me that." Thomas says through gritted teeth. It sounds wrong coming from Gally's mouth, it sounds laced with malice, its not right. Theres only one person he can stand calling him that.  
The cubicle door opens behind him, and Thomas wants to scream when he sees who steps out to stand beside him.

newt:  
Newt isn't sure whether he should be angry at Gally, or grateful to Thomas for defending him when the day before he would have been fighting him, not for him.  
"Thanks Tommy." Newt whispers, walking to stand beside Thomas. "I appreciate it, but I don't want you getting your bloody arse kicked."  
Thomas breathes out through his nose, his shoulders tensed, Newt notices.  
"But they're assholes, how can you just let them talk about you like that?"  
Newt, slightly reluctantly, places a hand on Thomas' shoulder.  
"I've got used to it, my skins as tough as leather. Leave it alone, Tommy."  
At his words Thomas relaxes, though the determination is still written across his features. Newt, relieved he no longer has to play peacemaker, brings his hand back to hang by his side.  
"Aw, are you two buddies now?" Gally teases, mock pouting.  
"Thats it." Thomas says, lunging at Gally, his fist in front of him. Newt jumps after him, trying in vain to pull him back. He's too bloody late. Thomas' fist connects with Gally's cheek, causing him to clutch his face and wince, before retaliating and connecting to Thomas' nose.  
Gally's friend, Newt thinks is called Zart, jumps between the boys, pushing his hands out to their chests, in a movie like attempt at separating them.  
"Thomas." Newt says, pulling at his arm.  
Thomas turns to look at him, a small trickle of blood coming from his nose.  
"We're getting you out of here."  
Newt suddenly feels his chest ache, just a tiny bit, looking at the anger on his new friends face. All that for him? Newt shakes his head quickly with his eyes closed, trying to best to shake off, or at least ignore the fact that, even for a second, he cared about Thomas.  
Thomas picks up his pyjamas from the floor, where he threw them. They're wet from landing on the floor of the shower cubicle he'd just exited.  
"No worries, I have some to spare." Newt adds, feeling bad about what Thomas did for him. After all, It's his fault that Thomas got in a bloody fist fight.  
Thomas walks in front of him, his head hung, his eyes focusing on the ground.  
Newt doesn't say anything until they're back in their dorm with the door locked, with Thomas dabbing his nose with a tissue.

"Tommy..."  
Thomas looks up sheepishly, not maintaining eye contact.  
"What was that all about? Why me?"  
"I'm sorry. It's my fault, as usual."  
"Hey, I never said that. I'm just curious why you would fight on behalf of a person you detested less than 24 hours ago."  
Thomas pauses to sit down at his desk, resting his arms on his knees.  
"I've never hated you, Newt."  
Newt is sure his face displays a mixture of disgust and confusion, all in one.  
"You're a bloody convincing actor then Tommy."  
"When was I ever directly rude or mean to you?"  
Newt hesitates, about to open his mouth to make yet another of his pointless remarks. He realises Thomas has never done anything to harm him, other than maybe be a bit of a prick.  
"Oh."  
"Yeah, right." Thomas says, almost sighing. "Its those high, stone walls you've built around yourself. Not one person can make it over without being brutally attacked or being ignored. You've been so deep in the centre of your own maze, you haven't noticed others attempting to get to you."  
Newt feels his eyes well up with tears. He looks at his hands.  
"You remember that time I sat with you at lunch in your first week? You were alone at a table, looking like you could shit yourself at any minute, so I went and sat my ass down beside you and all you did—"  
"I told you to go away." Newt adds, finishing his sentence, his voice shaking slightly.  
"Damn right you did."  
"I'm sorry. Really. I'll try to climb out of my own arse for starters."  
"Looks like a plan." Thomas says, with a smile.  
Neither of the boys want to say anything in that moment, so they just sit there, in silence.  
After a moment, Newt speaks.  
"Thank you Tommy."  
"Its okay. You didn't deserve that."  
Newt shrugs. Maybe he did, for being such a bloody prick all the time, but he's made a promise to himself, and to Thomas that he'll learn, or at least try to, be there for others instead of himself.  
"How's your nose?" Newt adds, trying to remove some of the weight of the conversation.  
"Sore, but whatever." Thomas says with an quick eye roll. "Do you want breakfast? I'm hungry as hell."  
Newt nods eagerly, standing.  
"Hang on a sec, Tommy." Newt says, grabbing a clean tissue from the box on his desk. "May I?" He says, gesturing to Thomas' nose, which still has blood dried underneath it.  
Thomas nods, walking to his bed so he can sit with Newt, to make it easier. He shuffles along and pats the space beside him, Newt sits.  
He leans close to Thomas and quickly wipes the blood away. Thomas winces but tries to hide it.  
"Shit, sorry. I'm not known for having a soft touch." He grins sheepishly.  
Thomas laughs. "I can see that."  
Newt laughs with him and sits back from Thomas, looking at him, a soft grin on his face.  
"What?" Thomas says, with a smirk.  
"Sorry, just thinking about how you called your supposed friend a nobody. For me?" Newt chuckles, when he pictures Gally's stupid, gormless expression.  
"Jesus, I can't believe I really said that." Thomas says, laying his head in his palms, his shoulders shaking slightly from laughter. "Looks like I don't have any friends anymore."  
"What am I then?" Newt says, raising his eyebrows.  
"This is happening? The Sir Newton is gracing me with his friendship! I'm not worthy!"  
"Shut your bloody mouth Tommy." Newt yells, punching Thomas in the arm.  
"Breakfast?" Thomas asks.  
"Alright" Newt replies, standing and throwing the tissue in the trash.  
Thomas follows him out the door and they walk side by side down the hallway together, passing other boys, a few of which give the pair an odd look.  
Thomas turns to Newt and they share a bored look and a smile.

"Hello boys."  
Newt glances up to the source of the voice to see their principal, Ava Paige standing in-front of them.  
"Hello Ms Paige." Thomas says, smiling politely.  
"I see Newt, that you took what I said into account" She says giving Newt a fleeting look of warmth.  
"Yes, I did. We worked out our differences, whatever they were." Newt pauses. "But, I still wish I knew more about the backgrounds of our conversation."  
Ms Paige nods. "Ah. Well, I'm sure the truth will come into light sooner than you think." She looks troubled by this sentence, but continues. "You should know, that it may be difficult to believe at first, but it is real. Almost too real."  
Newt frowns, and with a look to Thomas, sees his friend is doing the same.  
"Don't worry. I hope this new information hasn't troubled you, you needn't worry about it at all. Not yet."  
Thomas smiles, Newt, (still learning the meaning of politeness) just nods.  
"Thank you, Ms Paige. We better go to breakfast, we're running late."  
"Of course. See you later boys."

She walks past them, down the hallway, her heels clicking on the floor.  
"What the bloody hell was that?" Newt exclaims, more freaked out than he was before.  
"Don't ask me!" Thomas replies, raising his hands in protest.  
Newt remembers his dream and shivers a little despite the jumper he's wrapped himself in.  
"I bloody hope that my dream was just a dream."  
Thomas chuckles. "Don't lose your mind on me Newt. You're not physic, it was just a dream."  
Newt laughs. "You're right, you're right. Sorry Tommy, I get a little lost sometimes."  
Thomas nods, before stopping in front of the door to the breakfast room. There's a sign stuck up on the door.  
'Breakfast is being served up till 9:15, opposed to the usual 10:am. Whole school assembly at 9:45. If any pupils do not attend there will be serious consequences. Students are welcome to remain in the dining-hall until the assembly. Thank you." Thomas says, reading aloud.  
Thomas shrugs. 'Whatever. I'm starving, lets go."  
Newt pushes open the door and they step into the room. Newt is immediately hit with the smell of grease and bacon and beans, which sleep deprived him would have trouble stomaching, but now, he's almost drooling.  
They walk, their shoulders touching towards the queue, which surprisingly is short for a Saturday morning.  
"Newt!"  
Newt turns his body to face Frypan, one of is meal buddies. He's sure they're only sitting with him because they pity him. After all he did use to sit alone at tables, picking at his food.  
"Newt?"  
"Oh yeah sorry Frypan, I zoned out. Hi."  
"You coming to sit with us?" He looks at Thomas. "We have room for two."  
Newt looks at Thomas for a sign that he doesn't want to sit with his bloody freaky friends, he's unsure whether Thomas will sit with his friends or not.  
"We'll be there. Save us a spot. Thanks Frypan." Thomas replies, on Newts behalf.  
Frypan winks. "Gotcha." Before turning on his heel and going to sit beside Jeff and Winston. Another two of Newt's pity friends.  
The two boys walk up to the counter, and Newt piles his plate with food. He feels he deprived himself for so long, when he'd stumble into breakfast in the morning, barely functioning.  
He takes his plate to the table where Frypan is madly waving at him, and sits.  
"Newt, you seem actually alive today." Winston says.  
"Nice of you to say mate."  
Newt sits awkwardly, receiving weird glances from the others when he calls out to Thomas.  
Thomas sits down in the empty seat beside Newt, greeting everyone around the table. Newt feels considerably more relaxed when the usually awkward silence is filled by Thomas' voice.  
They all eat silently, Newt for the first time in a long time, savouring every bite.  
Thomas checks the clock in the back of the room.  
"Shit, It's 9:40. We'd all better get to the assembly."  
All the boys stand up, hastily, anxious to get to the assembly in time, unsure what the mentioned serious consequences are.

The group seat themselves in a row near the back of the hall, a hum of curious chatter around the room. A bell rings, and everyone is silent.  
Principal Paige steps onto the stage.  
"Good morning students. I trust you have all eaten, if not speak to a member of staff, who can provide you with something. Sorry for any inconvenience caused, but this was a big a surprise to me, as I guess it is to you.  
I received contact from a colleague, who had to share some news. He and I thought it would be best if he came to speak to you all himself, so here I introduce, Janson."  
A man with pointed, almost sour features steps out onto the stage, a stupid smirk plastered on his face. Newt already dislikes this man.  
"Hello students, I am Janson. I belong to an organisation, which I assume the majority of you in this room will be unaware of. The organisation is named WCKD. World In Catastrophe Kill-zone Department."  
Newts heart jumps to his throat and he grabs Thomas' arm and squeezes.  
"Our name may sound terrifying, and worrying, but we assure you we are the complete opposite. Our focus is to find a cure. To what? You may be thinking. But there's a simple explanation as to why schools across the district and across the country have not let their students beyond their grounds. There has been an outbreak, currently minor, of a virus. We like to call it the Flare. It was caused by solar flares, which scorched the planet. A section of the outside world it currently in a danger zone. We are hoping the outbreaks do not continue, and if they do, we pray that they're small. We are working for a cure, we will stop this virus. But only with help from you."

Ms Paige steps up beside Janson. "We had everyone in the school injected with a extremely concentrated dose of the virus, to examine your reactions. As you remember, your reactions were severely different. After hundreds of meetings and tests, we have selected a number of you, to eventually assist us with this research, towards the cure. We wont need you entirely for a while now, but we want to have some brief meetings with the boys we have selected."

The principal searches the faces of the boys in the room, some look excited, some frightened.  
"Please, do not be frightened. Its for the greater good." Ms Paige, her eyes softening.  
"Janson, you're up."

"Here I have a list of 8 boys, who we have recruited. You will know who you are when your name is read."  
Janson inhales.  
"Winston, Frypan, Gally-"  
Newt notices Thomas grip the armrest hard.  
"Zart, Jeff, Thomas-"  
Thomas, fear filled eyes, stares at Newt, grabbing onto Newt's arm and pressing down.  
"Careful Tommy, you'll shatter my arm." Newt whispers.  
"Chuck, and last but not least, Newt."  
Newt returns the look of terror to Thomas, feeling his heart drop.  
"Can all of these boys report to my office immediately after this assembly." Ms Paige adds, looking for all the boys who's names were called in the crowd. For the most part, the boys looks like they could bloody shit their pants.  
There is chatter.  
"Never forget, pupils." Janson finishes.  
"WCKD is good."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after the events of the annoucement, they go to speak to janson and ava paige. thomas is called to stay behind afterwards.   
> there is a 3 month time gap (apparently i was lazy when i wrote this in 2018 lol) and newt and thomas have an argument, which it turns out, doesn't get resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since i'm combining two chapters together from wattpad each time, the pov switching is a little crazy :( i'm really sorry abt it but as i wrote this in 2018, changing it would be PAINFUL. hopefully it isn't too distracting

newt:  
Newt walks between Frypan and Thomas down the hall, following Janson and Ms Paige, none of them saying a word.  
They reach the door of Ms Paige's office, the sound of their footsteps transitioning into silence.  
Janson pushes open the door and holds it out for them to pass through. Newt doesn't hold eye contact with the man, he has a gut feeling he's going to be seeing him a lot in the near future, unfortunately.

There are 8 chairs grouped together in front of the Principals desk, one for Janson sits facing the others.  
Newt sits close to his friends and as far from Janson as possible. He leans back into his chair, running his hands through his hair nervously, unsure of what will come next.  
"Boys." Ms Paige says, sitting down behind her desk, clasping her hands in front of her.  
"You will be helping thousands of people in simply becoming subjects of WCKD. I know, all of you are respectable and noble boys, and although the prospect of this mission may scare you, you are willing to work with WCKD, am I correct?"  
A few boys nod.  
"What happens if we aren't comfortable with working for WCKD?" Thomas asks, crossing his arms across his chest.  
"Ah. That is an obstacle we didn't imagine crossing, but Thomas, we will never make you do anything against your will." Janson adds, receiving a nod from Ms Paige.  
"Yeah right." Winston mutters under his breath.  
"Are you all in?" Ms Paige asks, scanning the group with her eyes.

There are a collection of nods and a few answers of yes. Everyone agrees, some more easily persuaded than others. One boy, Chuck, the youngest of the group, is shaking in his seat, but nods nonetheless.  
"Fantastic. You will be alerted when WCKD require you, but for a while, we hope, you will return to your usual." Janson says, clapping his hands together suddenly, making Newt jolt slightly.  
"You may go back to your dorms, or to the library, etcetera. You know the drill." Ms Paige says, with a smile.  
"Except Thomas, we need to speak with him alone for a minute." Janson adds with a glance to Ms Paige.  
Newt stands but leans to Thomas and whispers, "I'll be waiting outside."   
Thomas nods and turns to watch Newt as he leaves.

thomas:  
"Thomas, it's nice to finally meet you." Janson says, smirking,  
"Finally?" Thomas enquires, frowning.  
"You have been a subject of attention for some time. We saw your results to the injection..."  
Thomas bites down on his lip. Do they know about the fake faint?  
Janson peers at him from the side of his eyes. "Yeah, we know you faked passing out. It's completely understandable, you were scared. Moving on."  
Thomas exhales. "Why am I here?"  
"Well, after seeing your results, we realised how you, singlehandedly could change everything. No one that we have tested yet, and believe me, that's a lot of people, no one has had no reaction, like you did."  
Thomas' breath catches in his throat.  
"We believe you could the core source of the cure. We aren't even remotely close to coming to a discovery, but you're our best shot. We need you." Janson says, his face a mask of sincerity.

Thomas mulls over the mans words in his head, his heartbeat quickening slightly. So he was a freak, all along. He can't help but think about Newt now. He remembers how Newt reassured him that he wasn't alone, and he wasn't a freak. He's suddenly overwhelmed by how appreciative he is of Newt, and how much the tables have turned since only a few days ago. He snaps out of his somewhat emotional daze and speaks.

"If there is a promise I will help others, how could I disagree."

"Thank you." Ms Paige breathes through gritted teeth, with a quick smile at Thomas.

"Perfect. You will be an asset to WCKD, Thomas." Janson says, with a smug look on his face. "We'll let you resume your usual schedule for now. But we'll require your assistance before we require your friends."

"How long before?" Thomas asks, slightly anxious he'll be alone.

"Only 2 weeks or so, not to worry." 

Thomas relaxes, although he's used to his solitude now.

"Ah." Janson says, suddenly. "Teresa."

Thomas frowns, he had never heard that name before, and it sparks nothing in him. 

"I was slightly incorrect in saying you were the only person who had no reaction. Teresa was orphaned, so, many years ago we took her in and she's been assisting us with our research ever since she understood what WCKD stood for. "

"Will we be together?" Thomas asks, a slight shake in his voice, he hasn't talked to a young girl ever.

"You will be seeing each other frequently yes, but not immediately. She is your age, very intelligent, and extremely motivated when it comes to finding a cure. She will stop at nothing to fix our world, if the outbreaks become larger and more dangerous, she's ready. " Janson says, a small hint of pride, but Thomas suspects he has not care for the girl herself, just her brain.

"Cool." Thomas says, instantly regretting it and wanting to jump into a deep bottomless hole. He sounds so dumb.

Janson laughs. "You may go now, Thomas. Thank you." Ms Paige says, walking behind Thomas to the door, and pushing it open for him.

He steps out into the empty hallway, and turns left towards his room.

3 months later, late night.

"Tommy, that's bloody stupid."

"Newt, it doesn't concern you."

"Well it will, if you come back to me, crying."

Thomas rolls his eyes.

"Don't play that card. I'm leaving to WCKD in less than a week, now is not the time." 

"Whether its the bloody time or not, you are suggesting sneaking into a huge meeting about WCKD, out of curiosity, they'll kill you Tommy."

"It's not as dramatic as you make it. It'll be fine, I'll be fine."

Newt shakes his head, pulling his bed covers over his legs. 

"If you make it out alive, I don't want to hear it. I'm tired of you right now, Tommy. Don't bother telling me anything, I told you. I don't care."

Thomas is taken aback. That stung, probably more than Newt intended but nevertheless Thomas is hurt by the spite in Newt's voice. 

"You're so full of shit sometimes, you know?" Thomas says, biting back.

Newt sighs, switching of his light and pulling his duvet up over his torso and over his head. Thomas switches off his light also, but he just sits on top of his bed in silence.

He needs to know what WCKD have planned for him, he's impatient, and the thought of going to WCKD alone makes him feel nauseous, he's got so used to constant company these past few months, loneliness is a foreign feeling. 

He lays his head down on his pillow and decides he's tired, physically yes, but also mentally. He's done with Newt's shit, and he makes a note to himself, to leave Newt alone. 

He hugs his arms close to his chest, and falls into a dreamless, tense sleep.  
newt:

Newt lies in the darkness of his room.

He regrets what he said to Thomas, he didn't intend to be so hard on him, but he needed his point to get across. Thomas couldn't go into that meeting. His most prominent worry for Thomas is that the truth will scare him, Janson will talk about tests and how the virus is worsening, which is the truth. Why else would Thomas have been called in?

Not that he has seen the outside world, or even photographs of it, secretly he hopes he doesn't have to face it for a long time. The images they were shown months ago, the first time they met Janson, still sit in the front of his brain, frequently. That image is already a reason he is happy to help WCKD, he hopes he is as willing when the time rolls around in a few weeks time. He's sometimes sad to think of Thomas going, currently that isn't an issue. He's more angry at Thomas now.

The alarm clock beside his bed reads 5;30.am. Is that an acceptable time to wake up on a Monday morning? He decides, wether it is or not, he's getting up and taking a shower.

He silently pads out of bed and grabs his towel and clothes that are folded on his chair. He feels, strangely like himself. His old sleeping habits are back.

He pushes open the a-joining door into the bathroom and enters the stall in the back which he usually ends up going to now, it's around the corner from the others behind a tiled wall. He closes the door behind him, places down his towel and clothes on the small stool in the corner and flicks on the shower before undressing and stepping under the warm spray, relaxing his muscles and focusing on the sound of the shower, like raindrops. He can't hear anything. 'Finally, peace' He whispers to himself, with a smile. He know remembers why he enjoyed waking up so early before. The blissful sound of no one else around him.

He doesn't notice how time passes, maybe it was 30 minutes or so. He is notorious for his long showers. He hesitates before switching off the shower and wrapping his towel around his waist. He dries off his body quickly and changes into his school trousers and a shirt. His tie and his blazer are hanging in his room.

He walks out into the bathroom, which is still empty. He dries his hair and brushes it, it's getting a little long, Newt notices. It hangs in front of his eyes.

He completes his morning by brushing his teeth, for longer than the day before, as he had less time yesterday. The bathroom is still empty. He knows his and Thomas' neighbours on the other side sleep in, so he's not worried about their lack of punctuality. Newt guesses it must be at least 6:20. Thomas should be here now, whenever they wake up at the same time, they come and stand with each other as they get ready. Newt feels uneasy, everything is silent still, but uncomfortably so. Not the way he likes it.

He walks towards the door of his room, and pushes it open. He blinks quickly. All the lights are on. Thomas' bedding is in a messy heap at the end of his bed. He searches the room for Thomas, but he's not anywhere. He walks to Thomas' desk. One of his items are gone, his notebook. Others lie randomly across his desk. Definitely not how Thomas left it last night. Anxiety is starting to creep up on Newt and his pulse quickens. Thomas is gone.

thomas;

He lies in bed, one leg lying out of his covers, the rest of his body lying splayed out. He woke up after hearing Newt get up, and he can't get back to sleep, it's too damn hot in their room. He hears the shower switch on through the wall. 'Great, no sleep for Tommy.' Thomas whispers into the dark, bitterly.

He lies there for a while focusing on the shapes in the darkness. He zones out, into a daze for 10 minutes or so.

The door creaks open, but it's not the door he's expecting. It's the door to his room. Light from the hallway pours across the floor, into his eyes.

Ms Paige is standing in the doorway, looking stressed and from what Thomas can see, a little scared.

"Thomas. I hate to spring this on you, especially at this hour. But WCKD need you to come, right now." She's whispering, Thomas has to lean in to make out what she's saying.

"There was a massive breakout, in a city. Nothing we've ever seen before." She sighs. "I'm sorry Thomas. There is a berg waiting outside, no more than 5 minutes. Don't bother taking anything, we'll sort it out for you later. Come to the front doors, some WCKD guards will meet you out there." She pauses as his eyes dart towards the door. "Don't worry about Newt, we'll deal with him." Thomas nods.

Ms Paige exits and closes the door silently behind her.

Thomas springs out of bed, his head a mess. He's tired, and now he feels sick. With fear, anxiety, sadness for leaving Newt when they'd argued. A mix of everything. Maybe, the smallest amount of excitement.

He grabs a hoodie, pulls on jeans and stares at his notebook lying on his desk, for a second. He considers leaving it, but he has everything about WCKD he's collected in the past 3 months. He can't leave it. He snatches it and stuffs it into his hoodie pocket, luckily it's small enough that it will go unnoticed. He sighs. 'I'm sorry Newt' He scribbles on a piece of paper on Newt's desk and sprints out of the door, towards the front of the school.

newt:

He turns quickly, looking around the room for any sign that Thomas left him. He notices something, on his desk.

He runs over, his hands shaking slightly.

It's a piece of lined paper, that he had left on his desk the night before. Written across it in Thomas' messy scrawl, it reads; 'I'm sorry Newt'

Newt gets chills down his spine. Every word he said to Thomas yesterday, floods back to him and it crushes his mind. He really argued with his best friend, and in the morning he's gone. Only him would get this kind of bloody bullshit.

He pulls on the rest of his uniform, the silence that fills his room makes him feel sick. He prays Thomas is okay, and he hopes it was just WCKD. Just WCKD. Newt laughs. It will never be just WCKD.

Despite it being 6:35 in the morning, Newt walks out into the hallway and walks down the separated corridor to Ms Paige's office. He needs answers, right now.

He reaches her door, and breathes in deeply, and knocks a few times.

She pulls open the door, looking worn and tired.

"Ah. I guess I expected this." She says, with a weak smile.

"Where is he." Newt says, clenching his fist.

"He's safe. There was the biggest outbreak we've seen, barely an hour ago. We needed him."

Newt is mostly focused on the part of the sentence where she said he was safe, that relaxes him partially, but he wants to know more.

"Why do you need him? So you can run tests on him, and steal his blood and steal his chance at a somewhat normal life, as a happy, carefree teenager? Yeah, no-one at this school is destined for a normal life, but this was as close as he could get and you stole it from him."

Ms Paige stares at him, her eyes wide, and almost tearful.

"Newt. He agreed to this, he was prepared. He did what was right."

"Did he? Did he really? You told him nothing. You filled his brain with bullshit!" Newt shouts, his blood boiling inside his veins.

"Newt-" Ms Paige rests a hand on his shoulder. He pulls away.

"He's going to be bloody alone, and scared for his life. He is unprepared as he could be."

Ms Paige stops, and looks down at her feet. "WCKD is good."

"Yeah, yeah. WCKD is good. Whatever." Newt says, his voice softening, letting his walls come down. He turns on his heel, tears welling up in his eyes and walks away, back to his room, where he remains, in silence for the rest of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys are called in the middle of the night, a berg shows up outside, and all newt can worry about is thomas.

newt:  
It's been two weeks since the night Thomas left for WCKD. The room they shared now feels empty, and is in constant silence. Newt also feels his heart sink a little more as more time passes by. He is eager to see Thomas, and talk to him again, he cant bear sleeping alone, in the dark. He has gone back to his sleep deprived state from months before, as much as he regrets it. He hoped he had got over it, he was enjoying finally having a semi functioning mind for school everyday.

Newt sits up, and is pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.  
"Newt?" It's Frypan.  
"Yeah?" Newt replies, staying, sitting at the end of his bed.  
"Principal Paige needs to talk to the group, urgently. We need you."  
Newt stands, suddenly more awake, holding onto a small spark of hope that he might see Thomas again.  
He pushes open the door, and smiles at Frypan. He hasn't spoken with him in a pretty long time. He didn't really feel like talking for a while.  
"How've you been?" Newt asks, with another lopsided smirk.  
"Alright. On edge, its been weird, never knowing when we could be whisked away to WCKD." Frypan replies, with what appears to Newt as a slight shudder.  
He nods. He understands completely, but he doubts he feels scared like Frypan. He will be more relieved when he can see Thomas. He's worried Thomas is unhappy there.  
'Stop being bloody stupid, Newt' He shouts to himself in his brain. 'This stuff never bothered you before, why Thomas and why now? It. Doesn't. Matter.'  
He shakes it off, and pushes back his shoulders.  
"Shall we go?" Newt says.  
Frypan nods. They make their way down to the office, walking beside each other.  
"How do you think he's doing?" Frypan says, his voice lowered.  
"Good, I hope. I bloody hope they're treating him well." Newt says, the emotion behind his voice surprises him.  
"Me too." Frypan adds with a quick nod. Newt see's this as a signal to talk about something else.  
"Sorry I've been hiding in my room for these past two weeks. I didn't really feel like doing anything. I dont feel myself right now."  
"It's okay. I get it. We all have days like that."  
Newt nods, awkwardly. "Uh. Thanks."

They reach the door, and Fry knocks.  
"Come in." Ms Paige replies, her voice ringing in Newt's ears. He is suddenly drawn to the fact that he feels anxious.  
They push open the door and sit in the two remaining chairs at the back of the group, beside Chuck and Winston. Chuck looks frightened, but no more than usual, Newt leans back in his seat and allows himself to relax a little.

"Hello boys. I apologise for the lack of notice, but I assume you were all expecting a few surprise meetings. This is very sincere though, so I would like to get to the point straight away." Ms Paige says, with a nervous smile.  
"WCKD need you. Tonight. We need everyone for tests, and research and help right now. The outbreaks are out of control, we can't count. The outside world is in turmoil."  
Newt's heart begins to pick up the pace, and he glances at Chuck who's eyes are teary.  
Bloody hell, poor kid.  
"You will all be awoken at precisely 4:45am. We are trying to avoid disturbing your fellow students as much as possible. A berg will arrive to transport you, and you will be escorted by a number of WCKD guards. You will be showed to your rooms, which for the most part, you will be sharing." She looks at her hands.  
"I'm deeply sorry to take you away from school, and your somewhat normal lives. A student came to talk to me the other day and I realised how this will change your lives, for the worse or for the better, that depends on how you look at it. But I promise you, it's for the greater good."  
She looks at him, directly in the eyes and nods. He nods in reply. He feels this gesture has created peace between them, and he is glad.  
"You may go. I will see you into the berg."  
She runs her hands through her hair and every boy stands up, and turns for the door.  
They all file out, and stand in the hallway, in silence.  
"Looks like we'll be seeing a lot of each other for a while." Jeff says, with a grin.  
"I hope not, you're all a pain in the ass." Frypan says, punching Jeff's arm.  
Newt laughs along with them, accepting what's to come. He'll be okay.

4:40am

He lies in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling, focusing on his breathing and his surroundings. He checks the clock. 5 minutes. He closes his eyes. He almost wants to not leave the bed he's lying in. This was the closest thing to home he's ever had, and he doubts WCKD will be remotely safe and comfortable to him.  
'I'll miss you, you massive pile of bloody shit.' He whispers into the dark.  
4:43.  
He sits up and pulls back his covers from his body and grabs his navy hoodie from the back of his chair. He presses it to his face and breathes in. It reminds him of his sister, she often stole if from his wardrobe and wore it. They'd argue about it afterwards, but he'd always feel bad and let her wear it anyway. God, he misses her.  
4:44  
He turns on his light and sits on the end of his bed, glancing around his room. He wont be seeing it for a while, which is bittersweet to him. On the one side, leaving means Thomas, and that outweighs the sadness of leaving a bleak dorm room, so he decides not to care.  
4:45  
He feels unprepared, but he clings to the fact that he'll be near Thomas in 24 hours. He can't wait to actually be himself again. 'Bloody hell. I really care about him don't I?' He whispers to himself.  
The door is pushed open, it's a teacher Newt doesn't know the name of.  
'Make your way to the front of the building, by the doors. Put on some trainers, and something warm. We'll have your clothes sent over later. Good luck, Newton.' The teacher says, with a smile. Newt almost feels bad not knowing their name, but it's not like he'll see them again.  
"Thank you." He replies, pulling his hoodie over his shoulders and zipping it up.  
The teacher exits his room, and shuts his door. He pulls on his shoes, which sit exactly where he likes them by his bed. He laughs to himself as he remembers the moment Newt realised Thomas wasn't an all round dick. He pulls them onto his feet and exhales, before walking up to his door and pushing it open, ready to begin the next chapter in his life.

He walks hurriedly down corridors, heading for the front doors. He hears muffled footsteps through the walls. His friends.  
He makes it to the front doors, and notices Ms Paige standing in her uniform, tensed directly in front of the doors. He approaches her and she nods to him, yet again.  
"Good. You're here." She says, before turning to the guard to her right, "We're awaiting three more boys, then we're all set." The guard nods, but says nothing.  
Newt walks towards Frypan and Jeff who stand, talking to each other. They both have their hands covered by their jumpers, and they wrap their arms around themselves, a form of comfort. Newt speaks.  
"Nervous?"  
The boys nod, mustering a brave a face as they can. They stand together in silence, for around 3 minutes Newt guesses, until the other boys arrive and are checked from the guards list. Newt is ready now, he's ready to go. A nervous excitement has built up in his chest.

"Are we ready?" One of the guards say, stepping in front of them.  
Everyone nods. Chuck, unsurprisingly is crying. Newt shakes his head. This kid doesn't deserve it, he really bloody doesn't.  
"Good luck boys, I'll see you in a few weeks when I come over." Ms Paige says, patting Chuck on the shoulder.  
The guard beckons for them to follow, before pushing open the large front doors. Newt is immediately taken-aback by the bright headlights of the berg in front of him, and the scale of it. He gives Ms Paige a last smile, and steps out onto the front steps, the wind whipping through his hair. He scans his friends that surround him, they squint back at him, some of them grinning like young children, filled with intense joy.  
The hatch drops and Janson stands, with his bloody smug look. Newt rolls his eyes.  
They all follow the guard up towards the hatch and take a step onto the berg. Newt feels suddenly elated. He's on a berg.

When all the boys are seated, in some place on the berg, it takes off into the night, its lights beaming out ahead of them, lighting up the ground. Newt walks up to his nearest window and stares out, at what seems like just sand for a very long time.  
"This is what the majority of the world is like now, destroyed. We call it the scorch. You'll never last a day out there, so don't get any ideas." Janson says. Newt can't see him but he can feel the mans smug expression behind his words.  
They fly further over and Newt notices crumbling buildings and with a more focused look, he notices a few corpses lying half buried in the sand. His stomach turns. This is what the world is like now? Just like Thomas imagined, what feels like years ago. His eyes sting but he doesn't allow himself to feel remorse just yet. He can save people like them, he hopes. Then, and only then, will all this be worth it.

"We're arriving." A guard announces and Newt breathes deeply, before yawning. He's exhausted, and is beyond caring where he sleeps, but he knows he has to soon.  
Although, only after he's seen Thomas.  
The berg lowers and Newt's stomach drops a little with it. He watches out the window as the ground gets closer and closer and they land in a large tarmac circle, which then proceeds to lower underground. The technology here is already something he has never dreamt of seeing, in his lifetime, let alone in his childhood. He hears a large metal clunk and the sky is cut off from him, and it is dark.  
The hatch lowers and Janson turns to them. "Please, don't embarrass yourself, or be afraid. Behave, you aren't here for us to hurt you."  
He saunters down the hatch, steps off and walks through the double doors as he reaches the bottom. They all follow, cautiously, hesitant with each step. Newt is in the middle of the group of boys, and he follows as Zart pushes the door open, and they step into a dark, pit of a corridor. Janson walks ahead, with a fast pace, some of the boys have to run to catch up with him, nervous of being separated from their leader.

The lights on the walls are dim, but bright enough that Newt can see this his near surroundings, and he notices doors along all the edges of the walls, some signs flashing above them indicating that it is an emergency exit. Newt see's the green reflected on his friends faces, alien to him.  
Maybe they walk for 5 minutes. 15? Newt can't tell but, he does know when they have reached their destination, before Janson has spoken. The doors are large and white, almost blindingly so, in contrast to the darkness of the hallway in which they are standing in. Newt can see through the small windows in the doors. He see's crisp white uniforms, and lab coats, he can make out bleeping from machines and shouts and footsteps. He is so intrigued.  
Janson pushes open the doors, and the group file through, packed tightly together, surveying the people and scenery around them. Newt looks at his clothing. Dark, and old and worn. He feels dirty beside the pristine workers of WCKD, and so unbelievably out of place.  
"Welcome to WCKD" A woman says to them, while passing, with a smile. Newt doesn't have the energy to even attempt a smile back, so he just stands there, sheepishly.  
"Well, I'll go ahead and show to your rooms immediately. We've no time for a tour and a chat." Janson says, continuing his fast walking down the hallway.

He presses his thumb onto a keypad and a small image of his face appears on the screen, identifying him and granting him access to the level. The floor name on the wall reads ; Subjects of WCKD.  
Newt scowls. He isn't their property. Not yet anyway,  
They stop in front of a series of doors, navy blue with numbers printed onto them.  
"Right. Room 6, Frypan, Chuck. Room 7, Zart, Newt and Winston. Room 8, Jeff and Gally."

Great. No Thomas.  
"I should tell you, there's no point in complaining about your roommates, you can't change them."  
There are a few sighs, but for the most part, his group seem okay.  
"I'll show you to the cafeteria, and then I'll leave you to go to your rooms, and sleep. Whatever is needed."  
Newt feels his heart sink, it doesn't seem like he'll see Thomas tonight.  
They follow him down the hall, to yet another set of double doors. They are pushed open, and Newt glances around the tables near him, which are empty. He can hear talking, but he doubts any of them would be Thomas, so he shuts off the part of him that longed to see Thomas again, and focused on what he needed, second most; sleep.

"Newt?" Someone says from behind him, and his heart jumps in his chest.  
"Thomas?" Newt turns swiftly on his heel, and for the first time in 2 weeks, he relaxes.  
Thomas walks up to him, quickly, his hair neat and groomed, in fresh clothes, colour in his cheeks and most importantly, a huge grin on his face.  
"Bloody hell Tommy, I was worried you'd have rolled over and died." Newt says with a smirk.  
Thomas shakes his head, laughing along with him.  
Newt thinks for a second, before he acts. He is suddenly overwhelmed by how quickly he calms simply by Thomas' presence. Should he?  
'Screw it.' He whispers under his breath.  
He steps to Thomas and wraps his arms around his shoulders. Thomas tenses. Newt almost feels obliged to awkwardly pull away, but then Thomas moves and squeezes Newt's shoulders in return.  
"It's good to see you, Newt."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas has a meeting with janson and ava paige, that reveals some very difficult information to him.

thomas;  
Thomas stares at the ceiling in the dark, his blanket lying across his knees. He focuses on his breathing, he had just woken up from a nightmare, the images of the deceased lying on the ground of the scorch burned in his brain. He wishes he could tell Newt, but Newt lies in a room with others far along the corridors from him. He debates going to wake Newt, but just because he's having a bad night doesn't mean Newt needs to have one too. He lets him rest.

The next person he thinks to tell is Teresa, but he thinks she'll be too cynical and tell him he's stupid and he shouldn't be worried over what he can't fix. Something like that. He want's to reach out and ask if she's awake, but the prospect of speaking to someone in his head still freaks him out majorly. He's got closer to Teresa over the 2 weeks he's been here. They're in the exact same situation, they're in it together. And, of course, they're connected at the mind. He sighs and rolls over on his side.

'Tom' A muffled whisper in his head. He pulls it forward into his mind.

'Hi Teresa. Can't sleep?' He pushes out, unsure whether she got the message.

'Yup. Feels like I'm permanently awake around here. Good job, by the way. That was crystal clear'

Thomas smiles to himself in the dark. 'Thanks. I wanna stay and uh...' He pauses 'chat, but I want to try and sleep now. Goodnight.'

'Night Tom. Sleep well.' He feels her presence go, and the connection fizzle out. He pulls the blanket up to his chin, flips his pillow and closes his eyes.

He wakes up to a knock at his door, a member of staff telling him to wake up. He pulls his body out of bed and pulls on a clean shirt and trousers, shoes and socks and leaves his room for breakfast in the canteen. He spots a familiar WCKD worker, high up in the department who is approaching him.

"You and Teresa have a meeting with Ava Paige, Janson and members of the team we need you to meet. 8:30 sharp in the conference room."

Thomas nods and checks his watch. It's only just passed 7:45. He has plenty of time to go and speak to Newt.

He enters the canteen, and notices his friends sitting at a table in the centre of the room chatting amongst themselves. Newt sits on the end, a space empty beside him. He stares at his cereal intently stirring it around in the bowl. Thomas smiles and shakes his head, while walking to pick up a few pieces of toast. As he goes to sit beside Newt he notices a boy sitting alone at a table across the room, with only a tall glass of orange juice in front of him. He is Asian, with short and dark spiky hair, in a slight quiff at the front. Thomas notices how large the boy's biceps are. He cant help being a little jealous. Although, that's beside the point. He recognises the boy, and feels bad for him sitting alone. But he decided against approaching him as the boy has a quietly bitter expression settled into his face, a look of discontent and suppressed anger.

Thomas slumps down into the chair beside Newt.

"Hi, Sleep well?" He asks the entire table, but mostly to Newt. He really only wants to be comforted after his nightmare, and he want's this question to open a gateway to the conversation, because he feels awkward just bringing it up.

"Hey Tommy. It was alright, I guess. You?"

"Had a nightmare, always kinda shit. But, other than that okay."

"Are you almost ok to leave? We can go talk about it somewhere..." Newt looks around the room and at the people, "That isn't here."

Thomas nods. "Almost, meet me outside my room in 5 minutes. You know where it is right?"

Newt nods, while standing and grabbing his bowl. "See you then."

Thomas watches Newt walk and pour the remainder of milked soaked cereal that lies in his bowl into the bin. Thomas quickly butters his toast and eats it, chatting to Frypan in between bites. Five minutes passes quickly, and Thomas is on his way to his room. He turns the corner and see's Newt leaning on the door arms folded, his hair flopping over his eyes. Thomas is instantly filled with an intense feeling of happiness and he smiles.

"Hey"

Newt looks up and waves, with a smirk.

Thomas walks over to his door and pushes it open after scanning his thumb to unlock it.

"Wow Tommy. You must be important we don't have those on our doors." Thomas punches Newt's shoulder playfully, with a laugh.

"So... bloody nightmares eh?" Newt says sitting down on the end of Thomas' bed and gesturing for Thomas to come sit beside him. "Talk to me."

"You saw the dead bodies in the scorch too right?" Thomas says, apprehensively, looking up through his eyelashes at Newt.

"Oh bloody hell yeah, don't remind me." Newt visibly shudders. "It's shit, it's really shit. I can't believe this all happened and we knew close to nothing about it. Makes me feel sick to my bloody stomach."

Thomas exhales. "I woke up, completely awake, because all I could think of was how many lives were overcome by this virus. I need to help Newt. I'll do whatever I can."

Newt grabs his hand and squeezes it tightly. "I'll follow you in whatever that may be Tommy. I promise you. There's no one on this earth, at this point in time, that I trust more than you, and I have no doubt the others will follow with you too." Newt flushes a little and pulls away his hand quickly after speaking. "Sorry... That was.."

Thomas cuts him off. "It was what I needed to hear, really." Thomas squeezes his hand back, before standing. "I have a very important meeting I'm told I can't be late for."

"Ah, yeah, alright." Newt replies awkwardly standing up from the bed and sheepishly grinning.

"Thanks for... you know... getting it." Thomas adds, pushing open the door for Newt.

"Anytime Tommy, anytime."

Thomas closes the door and heads in the direction of the conference room, stopping outside the door. He hears talking inside. One of the voices belonging to Ms Paige, his principal.

"He'll want to protect them." She says. "Thomas is a loyal boy, if he's anything."

Thomas freezes.

"Their memories will be long gone, they'll forget him." Janson adds. "He'll forget them too."  
"I have a funny feeling about him and Newt. I think there's something strong between them that they have yet to realise. We'll leave it as long as possible. We need to focus. One the maze and only the maze." Ms Paige adds. Thomas feels the tension in her voice.  
The maze? He wonders, his blood icy cold in his veins.  
He knocks on the door.  
"Ah, Thomas, good boy. 8:30 on the dot. Come right in."

Thomas steps into the room and closes the door behind him, acting oblivious to what he had just heard. His stomach has flipped with anxiety and he feels light headed. He worries. For his involvement in WCKD, He worries for his friends, for Newt. He hope this meeting will feed his curiosity and calm him. If not, he knows this will be on his mind always.

He sits down silently in an empty chair at the opposite end of the table from Janson. He can barely stomach looking at his face this morning. There is another knock on the door, and Teresa enters. Today she is wearing dark denim jeans and a button up shirt and white plimsoles. Their ages are so similar but she manages to look 10 times mature than him. Thomas doesn't know if it's the way she dresses or the way she holds herself, but he feels like a child next to her. She sits down beside him and whispers "Hi Tom." He nods in her direction. She frowns. He's obviously not doing a great job at hiding his anxiety.

"This meeting is your most important yet, and so we apologise for dropping it on you on such short notice." Ms Paige says, with her signature soft eyes and a weak smile in Thomas' direction. "You both are our prime resources for research, and your young and truly magnificent minds will lead the movement we have planned. You are more important to WCKD than you are aware." Janson adds, his accent and his words drilling into Thomas' mind.

'I'm sick of hearing his voice' Thomas says to Teresa in his mind.

'Tell me about it...' Teresa replies. Thomas can hear her tiredness in those 4 words. He disconnects from her and raises his hand.

"Yes Thomas?" Janson says, smirking.

"What is this movement you have planned?"

Janson makes quick eye contact with Ms Paige, probably with the hope Thomas and Teresa wont notice. Ms Paige nods.

Janson clicks a button on the remote in his hand and a screen jumps up into the centre of the table. There is a map, of what looks like... Thomas freezes. "A maze" Teresa says, looking up to glare at Janson. "How does this have any correlation with finding a cure?"

"You kids are impatient today." Janson adds with a laugh. Teresa rolls her eyes.

"Phase one. The maze trials." Ms Paige says, standing up.

"We chose you both for a reason. You are both immune to the virus. Those injections you had at school Thomas and Teresa, the serum that was given to you here, you showed no reaction. We chose you, because we need young immunes like you. There are others, but for your group, we chose you. You are group A. All your friends will be sent up with memories wiped. We want to study the brains of the young immunes in a setting where they must work for their survival and then we can identify what exactly is creating their immunity, bringing us closer to a cure. We would send up a boy monthly. We finalised the order just this week, and we would like to reveal it to you."

Thomas feels sick. Newt, his memory gone. Fry, Winston, Jeff, Chuck.

"But, this won't be for a very long time. We need you two to develop the maze, build it, make it what it is. You will be the creators." Janson says, scraping his hand through his hair.

"This is all strictly confidential too, if we discover you have shared this information with any of your friends, you and them will face consequences."

Thomas feels tears sting his eyes. He looks at his hands. He can't do that. Not to his friends.

"No." Thomas says, allowing the anger to bubble, and allowing the tears to trickle down his face.

"Thomas..." Teresa says, placing her hand on his arm. "Not here."

"Not here?" Thomas pushes back his chair and stands up swiftly pushing Teresa away. "These are my friends, the only thing close to a family that I have. And you're telling me to create a form of hell for them, to wipe their memories and never see them as the people I love, ever again?"

"Thomas, calm down." Ms Paige says approaching him a hand raised.

"If that's why I'm here, if that's what you're doing to people, I don't want a part of it."

Thomas pulls open the door and sprints down the hallway towards his room, loud sobs escaping his mouth. He is a few doors from his room, when he realises he'd rather not sit alone in the dark confinement of his room. He slides down the wall and sits, burying his head in this knees.

"Tommy?" He lifts his head and looks at Newt approaching him.

"Newt it's fine, I'm fine."

"Might be my eyesight, but you don't look so fine to me Tommy. What did that bloody meeting do to ya, huh?"

Thomas exhales and tries to unscramble the words in his head but it makes him realise how painful it is to think about. He begins to cry again. Newt frowns.

"Thomas. You can talk to me." Newt says, grabbing Thomas' arms, reassuring him.  
"I can't."

Newt shakes his head. "Come here." Newt says hugging Thomas briefly but tightly and safely. Thomas leans into him for a minute. "Thank you Newt, seriously. I'll tell you when the time is right."

"It's alright Tommy. Go get some rest, looks like you need it."

Thomas stands and wipes his eyes, and begins to walk towards his room a few doors down. He's about to push open the door but instead turns.

"Newt?"

Newt spins on his heel. "Yeah Tommy?"

"Right now, you're my family, so thank you."

"You're mine too Tommy, I appreciate it. I bloody do. Have a good power nap."

Thomas laughs, scans in and pushes open his door and almost falls into bed. He ensures his door is locked and closes his eyes and shuts off his brain as best he can and falls asleep.

He is awoken after what feels like an hour, by hurried knocking at his door.

"Tom. HELLO?" It's Teresa.

He hurriedly stands and opens the door for her and she walks in with a sigh, clutching a piece of paper in her hand.

"Thank god. I was worried. I don't think you'll be overly enthusiastic about what I'm about to show you, but I thought you should know."

"Go on..." Thomas says, hesitantly.

"It's the order of your friends being sent up for the..." She inhales deeply. "The trials."

Thomas snatches the paper out of Teresa's hand. He scans the list, he notices Frypan's name in the middle, with Chucks last. He's terrified to look at the top of the list. Teresa avoids his eyes.

Second on the list, it reads 'Subject A5, Newt'

Second. Newt is the second person to be sent into the maze, and the first of his friends that he will lose. Thomas feels his heart sink. He passes the paper back to Teresa.

"Tom, I'm so s-"

"It's fine. You should go."

Teresa nods. "Take care." The door closes quietly behind her.

Thomas leans back into his pillow, shuts off the lights and tries to quieten his brain, again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas has been distancing himself from newt and everyone else, but after hearing that newt had been struggling, goes to make amends

Thomas  
It's been almost a month since Thomas ran from the meeting where people he barely knew or cared about discussed the plan for his future, which he apparently had no control over. Initially, he would have done anything in his power to stop his friends from being sent into the maze, but after careful consideration (also known as Teresa's pleading, and very effective convincing) he decided that he wanted the world to change for good, he wanted to free as many people as he could from the virus. He knew that his friends would want the same if they were in his position, that thought kept him grounded.  
He hadn't spoken to Newt. He distanced himself, because shortly after receiving the news that Newt was to be second into the maze, he realised how deeply rooted his feelings for Newt were, and frankly, it scared him how much he admired and loved his friend. In what way he loved him, he wasn't so sure. He was afraid of how much it would pain him to have to watch Newt suffer and forget him, that he built up walls that only Teresa was able to break through. They had become closer than ever, and Thomas was grateful for her.  
Today was one week until the first boy was being sent up. He and Teresa had a lot to do, to finalise the maze and the programming of it. He sits in his swivelling desk chair, similar to his at school. The one beside him is empty, he's waiting for Teresa to come. He types out commands, waiting for the reaction of the maze walls. Thomas glares at the large screens in front of him. The maze walls pull apart and close again, groaning loudly. Thomas, satisfied that they function how they are supposed to, stands and checks the clock on the wall.  
'6:30. Good timing Thomas' He whispers under his breath although he is alone, apart from Minho, the tall and muscular Asian boy that sits silently staring at the wall. Minho is always up early, a morning person.  
Thomas turns his head to glance at him, they lock eye contact for a second. Thomas feels uncomfortable, momentarily, before Minho flashes a grin.  
"You look terrified." Minho says with a smirk. Thomas feels his heart jump a little.  
"Not going to lie, You're kinda intimidating." Thomas says with an awkward laugh.  
"Nah, It's a façade. I'm actually a softie." Thomas smiles.  
"By the way, I know you don't feel like it, and I wont when I'm in that maze, but you're doing the right thing Thomas."  
Thomas nods. "I hope so. I'm sorry they're-" He waits "We're sending you in there, if I could stop it I would."  
"Don't worry, I'm okay. Just don't laugh at me when I fall on my butt when I get there." Minho laughs.  
Thomas laughs with him. "Thanks Minho, I appreciate it."  
Minho nods.  
Thomas deliberately goes to the control room early every morning, he doesn't want any chances of a confrontation with Newt. He feels like such a dick, and he is, but it's better, for the both of them.  
Thomas walks into breakfast, it's mostly empty, just Frypan talking to one of the kitchen staff and a few people in lab coats. Thomas is wary that this is the first time he's seen Frypan in the past month.  
Thomas wanders over and grabs some cereal and some water, before sitting down quietly at a table in the corner of the room. Frypan spots him and walks over.  
"Hi" Frypan says, sitting casually beside him. "It's been a while."  
"That's my fault." Thomas says, shrugging.  
"You think we don't notice you've cut us out completely? Newt is the unhappiest he's been in years. Why, Thomas?"  
Thomas breathes in deeply through his mouth.  
"I'm guessing you had the presentation about the maze trials, yes?"  
Frypan nods. "It's put everyone on edge. We've not been told who's going in, or when, so we're just waiting. It's scary." Frypan hesitates. "Why? Do you know more?"  
"You could say that.." Thomas sighs. "Fry, I wouldn't be cutting you out if it wasn't best for all of us. There's so much information that's lying on my shoulders that I truly wish I could tell you, but it's honestly best for everyone involved if I say nothing."  
"I knew you wouldn't do this without reasons, I trust you Thomas, I do. We just miss you."  
"I miss you guys."  
They sit quietly for a second.  
"Can you tell Newt, I'm sorry and that everything I'm doing is worth it. Tell him I miss him, but it's still too hard for me to talk."  
"Of course. See you soon, yeah?"  
"Yeah." Thomas replies weakly. He doesn't think he'll see Fry in the way either of them want. Thomas on the other side of a screen and Frypan trapped behind the screen. Thomas shudders as Fry walks away.  
'Tom? You there' It's Teresa calling out.  
'Yeah, I've been up since 5 am in the control room.' Thomas replies making sure his message is clear. They've been practicing while working on the maze together.  
'You need sleep.' Teresa says. Thomas can feel the concern in her voice.  
'I know, but it's just not happening.'  
'See you at the controls in 20 minutes?' He asks when he gets no reply.  
'I can do 10' She replies  
'Sounds good'  
He feels her disconnect and he quickly eats and cleans away his stuff, ready to get on with the day.

He sits down beside Teresa, smiling at her. She smiles back, but she looks worn out and tired.  
"You look awful." Thomas says, grinning.  
"Wow thanks, much appreciated." Teresa replies, pulling her hair back from her eyes. "I went to my room late, I was working on a plan with Ms Paige."  
"What sort of plan?"  
"Well-" Thomas senses Teresa is worried and regretting mentioning it to him.  
"They've decided to move the first boy's prep to tomorrow, and they're sending him into the maze on Wednesday instead of Sunday."  
Thomas feels his heart sink. He doesn't feel ready.  
"His name's Alby."  
Thomas nods. "Thank you for letting me know."  
Teresa nods and looks down at her notebook for a moment before snapping up her head.  
"Also, it's Newt, he's in the medical wing, he was told today he was second. He lashed out at a guard and got hurt. I think it's best if you don't go to him, but knowing you, you will anyway."  
Thomas pushes his chair back quickly and gets himself out of the control room and runs towards an open elevator. He jumps inside and presses level 3 on the keypad.  
The doors close and he waits in anxious silence, digging his nails into his palms.

The doors open and Thomas steps into the wing, the smell of cleanliness and cleaning products hit him immediately. A worker at the medical wing spots him and approaches.  
"Thomas. You can't be here."  
"It's Newt. I have to see Newt."

Newt  
He focuses his ears on the beeps and the busy noises of the medical wing. Frypan had just left and he felt lonely, but he was happy about it. He always thought about Thomas during times like these. He misses Thomas too, he was glad Thomas cared enough to send through a message to him, but still didn't understand why Thomas was avoiding him like he was diseased. He sighed, wondering if Thomas knew where he was and why. His curiosity was fed when he lifted his head to the sound of his name being called.  
"Newt." It was him. It was Thomas.  
Newt felt his mouth open, and fail to spit out words, and just hang open in an 'o' shape, like a bloody fish. He immediately felt stupid, but also unsure how he felt to see Thomas. His first reaction was relief which slowly transitioned into a state of anger. He was angry that Thomas had pushed him away for so bloody long. Newt felt like he had lost his most valuable relationship forever. He had the right to be angry.  
"Leave." Newt hisses through gritted teeth.  
"We both know I'm not going to do that." Thomas says, sitting in the plastic chair by Newt's bed.  
"Why'd you go and leave me, huh? I wasn't me without you, Thomas."  
Newt watches Thomas' face fall. "I think it's time that I explain, what I can, anyway. I'm really sorry."  
Newt nods, silently.  
"Teresa, I'm guessing you know we got pretty close."  
He nods again.  
"She has a close connection with WCKD and is working on some of the plans for the maze trials. But before you detest her, she's been here at WCKD most of her life, she barely had a choice. Anyway, she showed me the finalized order for being sent in, and after finding out you were second, I could hardly focus on anything, and I didn't want to freak you out, It was best, I promise."  
Newt briefly thinks over what Thomas explained and decides he is tired of being apart from him, and speaks.  
"I understand, I'm not a good person, so I assumed the worst. Thank you Tommy, for always putting yourself last. You're bloody incredible."  
Thomas shuffles his chair closer to Newt's bed and places his hand over Newt's gently, but Newt understands instantly that this is their own way of forgiveness, and he accepts fully.  
"You're not a bad person Newt, you had every right to think the worst of me. I realised how much I care about you after all the time I was gone, and even though we don't have long left together like this, I don't want to hide away anymore. You're stuck with me now man. Not goin' anywhere."  
Newt laughs. "Bloody hell. How do I follow that? Thanks, Tommy."  
"What's wrong with you anyway?" Thomas asks with a smirk.  
"Went and bruised up arm a shit ton and cut my head, didn't I." He replies showcasing his injuries to Thomas.  
Thomas sighs. "Nice one. Hardly deserving of a bed though."  
Newt laughs. "Watch it mate."  
He feels the light jump back into his eyes.  
"I best get back. I'll see you soon."  
"Yeah Tommy, sure."  
Thomas notices his hand still rests on his, and he lifts it slowly before waving and turning to leave the medical wing, the door sliding closed behind him.

The next day Newt wakes before 8 to a doctor telling him as long as he's not planning to get into anymore fist fights he's discharged from the hospital. He makes his way quickly down to breakfast, hoping to see Thomas again.  
He pushes open the door and looks around and spots Fry and co. sitting at a table on the far right.  
"OIIII LOOK WHO IT IS!" He hears Jeff yell from across the room.  
Newt grins and walks over.  
"Someone's looking happy today." Frypan says, winking.  
"Yeah. Thomas came to see me."  
"I'm glad y'all sorted it out." Fry adds with a smile.  
"Me too. It was weird without him ya know?"  
"You don't really know people's impact on you until their gone, huh." Winston says, looking solemn.  
"Woah Winston, went a bit deep there." Jeff replies with a laugh. "Newt, are you sitting with us?"  
"I'm going to look for Thomas, but thanks. Has anyone seen him?"  
"Nah, saw Teresa though, she might know." Frypan replies.  
"Alright. See you later." Newt replies, gratefully, walking away and pushing open the double doors and heading out into the corridor.  
He walks towards Thomas' room and peers through the glass gap in the door. Seems empty.  
He walks towards the conference room, in hope that Thomas or Teresa are somewhere nearby. He doesn't see Thomas but spots Teresa walking hastily in the opposite direction to where he's headed.  
"Teresa!" He exclaims, picking up his walking speed. 'Bloody hell, she walks fast.' He mutters underneath his breath.  
Her hair spins with her as she turns and halts.  
"Newt, hi. What's up?"  
"Have you seen Thomas? Was kinds hoping to see him this morning."  
She nods. "Yeah, I have, but he's in controls most of today, we've got a lot to do before sending the first boy up."  
Newt is taken aback, and then frowns. "We? What has Thomas got to do with setting up the trials. He's just helping you out right?"  
Teresa's head jerks a little, like she didn't quite pick up what he said.  
"He obviously told you less than he let on." She mutters, awkwardly scratching her scalp.  
"Teresa."  
"What? Oh uh... yeah." She glances behind her, and tucks her hair behind her ear quickly.  
"Newt, I'm not sure I should—"  
"Teresa." Newt says, more firmly this time, growing impatient.  
"Thomas. He uh... he created the maze. Him and I, we're the creators."  
Newt's head reels and he feels dizzy. Thomas is sending him to hell? His best friend is taking away his last shot at a happy life.  
"I'm sorry, we- we didn't really have a choice."  
Newt shakes his head.  
His heart feels heavy in his chest and the darkness wells up into his eyes and fills his body again, weighing him down. He was betrayed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after finding out newt knows the truth, thomas has to speak to him. this one is quite fluffy lol

Thomas  
Thomas sits silently on the edge of his bed. He had just prepped Alby to be sent up into the maze and the whole experience was bewildering. He felt like he was out of his body, and his mind was another place entirely. He wanted to talk to Newt, but Newt had no idea they had their memories wiped or that Thomas created the entire maze. He felt sick thinking about looking at Newt and not getting a reaction, it scared him to death. He also worried how Newt would react knowing Thomas created the next phase of Newt's life that he had no control over. He couldn't talk to Newt. Not yet.

Thomas snapped out of his daze when the sound of a fist pounding on his door started.  
"Tom, please open the door, please. I'm s—"  
She barely had time to finish her sentence before Thomas yanked open the door. The Teresa in front of him was not calm or collected but she was panicked and kept rapidly apologising.  
"What is it?" Thomas says, bitingly.  
"I didn't know and he pressed me, Thomas I didn't mean—"  
"Get to the point Teresa."  
"I told Newt you created the maze. He was looking for you this morning, I-I think you should've told him."  
Thomas feels his skin turn to ice and his blood run cold.  
"That was my decision to make, in my own time. For once stay out of shit that isn't yours." Thomas whispers, clenching his teeth.  
Teresa whispers an apology and leaves the room.  
Thomas' first thought is to go to Newt. He wants to explain himself, although he doesn't know what he'll be saying. He's just scared, as stupid an excuse as that is.  
He also feels like he should give Newt space to breathe, but he has to explain himself, he doesn't have long left with him, and he doesn't want to lose more and more time.  
He stands up from his bed and exits his room. The hallway is pretty empty. He guesses everyone will be in a meeting and his friends will be somewhere happy. That's what he hopes for most.

He walks round towards the conference room, part of him wishing to see Newt, the other part hoping Newt is hiding from him.  
He turns a corner so he's in the hallway where the conference room lies. He hears nothing and suspects there is no one there, but he scans the area with his eyes.  
He see's a boy with dirty blonde hair and a pale blue t-shirt on kneeling, his head in his hands, slumped against the wall.  
The boy looks up at him and Thomas see's the sheer anger and upset jump into his eyes.  
"Newt."  
"I'm not taking your bloody SHIT this time Tommy. You better have a good excuse, because I'm so tired of you."  
"I'm sorry, and I know, I know, you're sick of apologies but I was scared. So scared of losing you. I want to change lives, I want to save people, Newt. I don't want to watch the people I care about most go into that maze for nothing, you have to understand I'm doing this because I know you will all make a huge impact, I know you'll find a cure. If the maze was for nothing, I would have no part of it."  
Newt says nothing.  
"I'm afraid of how much fear I have of not seeing you again, I'm so terrified of how much... how much.."  
Newt looks up and him.  
"How much I love you. As a best friend, as a brother, as someone I would lay down my life for, the one person I trust most. It's alien to me. But what I'm doing, what we're doing will be worth it. The cure will be worth it."  
Newt stands and walks over to Thomas.  
"Although what you're saying and doing hurts, I know you and I know you'll do what's right. I'm sorry for both of us that the world bloody sucks like this. We're kids."  
Newt pauses, clearly remembering something.  
"When you were taken from school, before you had a chance to tell me what was going to happen and I woke up and found you gone I walked and I yelled at our principal. The principal."  
Thomas raises his eyebrows. "You didn't."  
"Bloody believe me, I did. I obviously grew a pair." Newt laughs softly.  
"Thanks for not beating my ass. If I were you I'd beat my ass."  
Newt scrunches up his nose and smirks.  
"That was never gonna happen mate, you knew that."  
Thomas shrugs. "You never know with you."  
Newt laughs freely again and Thomas feels the weight on his shoulders subside. He's happy again.

In the evening, around 9,Thomas sits outside the room where Alby's memory is being wiped. He stands biting his nails and raking his hands through his hair repeatedly. He's unbelievably anxious. He isn't even close to being ready for when it's Newt's turn. Teresa stands beside him, doing what she does best. Her clipboard rests in the crook of her arm and her pen is at the ready, resting on the paper which is filled with her neat and small print.  
She looks up, her black waves falling over her eyes. "I'm proud of you, Tom."  
Thomas almost pries his hands from his mouth and folds his arms ahead of him.  
"Why's that?"  
Teresa sighs. "I was practically born here, it's all I can remember but.. you were forced here and dragged into it and you have to watch your best friends go through hell, but you're so calm and yourself and I am so so proud of you."  
Thomas steps forward and hugs Teresa warmly. Although she drives him mad sometimes, he is so grateful to have someone to share the weight with.  
She smiles. "I think you should go sleep, you're not benefiting from this."  
"Thank you. Goodnight Teresa."  
"Goodnight Tom."

Thomas had collapsed into bed moments after walking into his room and pulling off his trainers. He hardly realised how physically and mentally drained he was. He sleeps for about 5 hours when he hears a timid knock on the door. He pulls off his cover and pads up to the door.  
He squints into the bright lights of the hallway.  
"Newt?" He whispers, looking at the boys eyes.  
"I can't sleep, I was thinking about how Alby's gone up and I'm next and all.." Newt pauses and flushes. "and I don't wanna be a prick and get in the way but... is it okay if I came and sat with you? It feels more like home— I mean.. school." He adds quickly.  
Thomas nods and Newt walks in clumsily. Thomas grabs his pillow and places it against the wall and sits against it. Newt sits beside him, their shoulders touching.  
"Just like old times." Thomas says.  
"Yeah."

They sit in silence for a while, just relaxing in each others company before Newt rests his head on Thomas' shoulder. Thomas doesn't move or speak, and eventually, in the dark, pressed beside each other, they sleep.

-  
Newt  
He dreads to think it's one week until he's in the maze, without Thomas. He's afraid. Of being alone in a maze with a complete stranger, and brand new surroundings being completely out of his comfort zone, and as childish as he sounds, not being able to tell Thomas when he has a nightmare. He'll miss that.  
He's deep in thought when he notices Thomas waving his hands in front of Newt's face.  
"Hey. You in there? You have a crucial debriefing for the maze in 5 minutes. You should step on it. It's in the conference room."  
Newt nods and clumsily stumbles up from his chair. "See you in here in 25 minutes or so?" Newt says, chewing on a hangnail.  
Thomas agrees.  
Newt half walks and half runs down the hall and turns left, towards the main conference room. He's extremely nervous. Thomas mentioned it was crucial, and if Thomas says-  
He just knows he should be afraid. He feels something in his heart tug a little. 7 days left before he's thrown into a brand new existence.

He reaches the door and knocks hesitantly.

"Ah, Newton. Come in." Janson calls out. Newt walks in timidly, he can hear his heartbeat in his ears.  
"We weren't sure how much of the process you were aware of, so we called you in. You know you must undergo a procedure to prep you for the maze."  
"Define procedure?" Newt asks, he's confused. He imagined them sending him in for a health check up, making sure he was good to go and knew what to do and then just sending him up. That felt the most right. It was the quickest and most straightforward prepping.  
"Ah. Well" Ms Paige says with a glance to Janson. "You'll need your modifications completed, and you'll need a check up and—"  
"Wait. Modifications?"  
"Of your brain, Newton. We have to wipe your memory." Ms Paige says, sternly.  
Newt feels the world spin wildly for a moment and then stand completely still. His memory gone. Completely?  
"You'll be able to remember your name. That's all that's safe for us to give you. I'm sorry, Newton. I really am." Ms Paige says staring down at the pristine glass table that her clasped hands rest on.  
Newt cant focus on anything other than the fact that he wont remember Thomas, he wont remember their memories, their friendship and nothing will spark in him when he see's his face. He doesn't want to do this anymore. He doesn't believe he can.  
"I think it's best that you go now, Newton. That'll be all."  
"Yeah. Great. I'm so bloody excited, you know? Can't contain myself." Newt says, his teeth grinding together, exiting the room.

Thomas  
Thomas sits on the end of his bed, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped and hanging in front of him.  
He knows Newt is finding out about the memory swipe, as he sits there.  
He waits a few minutes before pushing open his door and walking towards the conference room, his head bowed.  
He hears footsteps, slow and quiet at first but he hears them get louder and speed up. He lifts his head. It's Newt, running towards him.  
Thomas doesn't have time to speak.  
"Don't take this the wrong way Tommy." Newt almost gasps, before pressing his lips to Thomas'.  
Thomas feels his heart leap and begin to race. He doesn't know what to do with himself, how to act, He's never kissed anyone like this before. Before he can gather himself and his thoughts, Newt has pulled away and is standing in front of him, flushed.  
"That was needed." Newt says, smirking.  
"Yeah. It was."  
"Had to take my chances, I won't recognise your face in a week, better get at it while I can."  
Thomas laughs. "Gotta say, I'm not upset with how you've handled it so far."  
Newt exhales. "Tommy, stop, don't make me do it again."  
Thomas raises both his hands in protest. "Can we talk about this though? I think we both have things to say."  
Newt nods and they walk together to Thomas' room.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I thought I could prevent it, but-"  
Newt punches his shoulder lightly. "Hey, It's crucial to the trials. It's okay. We'll meet again."  
"You're right. It's gonna suck watching you suffer in there while I'm controlling you."  
"Not as much as it's gonna suck for me."  
"Yeah, yeah. I'll miss you though Newt. You've really changed me."  
"And you've changed me. For starters, I've never kissed anyone let alone a boy." Newt adds, another smirk appearing.  
"Shut. Up."  
Newt throws back his head and laughs.  
"You're a dick sometimes you know?" Thomas says, poking Newt's arm.  
"Yeah, I know it."

Thomas spent every moment with Newt he could. He insisted on trying to prevent Newt's memory loss, but he failed every time. Newt was too stubborn to accept anything that wasn't the right thing, as much as he hated WCKD.  
The second last day was the hardest, for both of them. It was the day before Newt's memory was wiped. Thomas felt sick, thinking about looking at Newt and knowing the boy didn't know him, let alone feel for him.

"Well. We made it." Newt says, leaning against Thomas.  
"I'd hardly call this 'making it'" Thomas replies, with a deep sigh.  
"I'm tryna be positive, ok? I'm trying my bloody best to show no sign of how scared I am, but you're making it very very hard Tommy."  
"I'm sorry."  
"I'm so terrified of looking at you and feeling nothing, I never knew we'd be saying goodbye like this, I thought it'd be dramatically, where you're saving my arse 'n we have a big dramatic goodbye before I die. Not as pathetic as this."  
"Maybe that's how it'll go in the end." Thomas whispers, squeezing Newt's hand, feeling the tears well up in his eyes.  
"It'll be different." Newt says, his voice cracking.  
"Not so much. I'll still be me, You'll be you."  
Thomas feels Newt's shoulders shaking with sobs.  
"I love you." Thomas says.  
"I love you too Tommy."  
The boys sit together, their faces streaked with tears and their hearts aching.  
"Look at us. Two teenagers, crying together in the dark. Bloody pathetic." Newt says, laughing through his sobs.  
Thomas laughs.  
"You should get to bed. You've got a storm coming."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's time for newt to go up into the maze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, as this was 2 chapters before, the pov switching is a bit intense in this one sorryyyy

Newt:  
It's today. He doesn't understand how it came along so quickly. He feels so unbelievably unprepared to leave his old life behind, it's almost laughable. Almost.  
He's scared. He doesn't know how Thomas is feeling but he guesses not great. They share the weight that lies on their shoulders but for Thomas it's heavier, knowing he is the reason Newt will never look at him the same.  
Newt's said his goodbyes to his friends. It was hard, and teary. Frypan especially, he always knew Frypan was a complete softie on the inside, he was truly lucky to have found people like them in the end. He was sad to see them go. He was sad to see everything go.

Newt had been sitting on his bed in the darkness alone for a while. Teresa said she'd come get him when it was time to go into the med lab for his doctors check up. She assured him there would be no memory altering till the evening. He'd arrive in the maze at mid morning maze time. The maze ran on artificial sun and moon, the days were scheduled, just like everything else in his life.  
He stared at the wall for longer until his eyes went out of focus. He had zoned out completely.  
Teresa called his name through the door.  
"You ready?" She said, pushing open the door lightly and sticking her head round the gap.  
"Am I ready to get prodded and questioned and tested for hours? You bloody bet I am!" He replies, smiling.  
Teresa lets out a forced laugh, before shutting her mouth tightly into a line. She doesn't like this any more than he does.  
They walk silently alongside each other, the bright white lighting catching Newt off guard, after being shut in a dark room for hours.

They reach the med lab and Teresa leads him in, hands over what he guesses is his file, gives him a nod and a smile and leaves.  
"Subject A5. Newton. Please, take a seat on the bed, the woman says gesturing to a foam mattress with large sheets of paper towels laying on top. He sits down and feels the paper crunch beneath him. He cringes.  
The nurse proceeds by pulling up his shirt sleeve up to almost his shoulder and taking his blood. He winces and inhales sharply when the needle pricks his skin. He watches the blood collect in the tube. This used to freak him out before but he gets blood taken every week now, he's almost surprised it hurt.  
The nurse smiles at him sweetly. He always liked her. He's sad that he wont ever see her again. She leads him through the next few stages of his check up and he's poked, samples are taken and he feels the nerves build up in his stomach and a lump form in this throat. He's preparing to say goodbye.  
"You're all set!" She says, helping him roll down his shirt sleeve.  
"Thank you." He whispers, sincerely and she squeezes his shoulder briefly. "Good luck Newton."  
There's a knock at the door. Teresa pokes her head round.  
Newt hops off the mattress and walks over to Teresa. Nodding his head at the other staff in the medical room. What he hopes is signalling a silent thank you.

"How was it?" Teresa asks, cheerily.  
"Okay. I never thought I'd feel it but I'm gonna miss them and this." He says calmly, gesturing around him.  
"We'll miss you." Teresa whispers. "I know Thomas will."  
Newt's heart sinks even deeper and his somewhat calm mood disappears as soon as it had come.  
He nods silently, focusing on his breath. Teresa doesn't say anything further.  
Newt didn't pay attention to where they were walking, but they stop outside Ava Paige's office. Teresa knocks politely.  
"Come in!" She calls out, seemingly stressed.  
Teresa pushes open the door and it opens seamlessly without a creak.  
"Thank you Teresa. You may go."

"Newton. Please sit." Ms Paige says with one of her signature soft smiles.  
He sits slowly down into the armchair that rests in front of her desk.  
"I'm sure you're more than aware of what's happening to you in the next 24 hours, and I'm also equally as sure you are as upset and scared as you should be." She inhales. "I wanted to first apologies for that. I know we took you away from your chance of a normal existence, and your friends, but we haven't taken away your happiness. That's up to you."  
Newt nods.  
"The maze is what you make it. Make it yours Newton. Save some lives."  
"I wont let you down Ms Paige." Newt says, looking down at the ground.  
"Please, call me Ava." She says, sitting on the corner of her desk.  
"Thank you Ava. I think I'm ready to go."  
She nods slowly but surely. "Let's go."  
She stands quickly. "I think you have someone to say goodbye to first. I'll leave you two alone for a while." Ava walks away and out of the door.  
Thomas steps out from the dark and shadowy back of the room.

Thomas  
Newt's face immediately softens, and his eyes well up with tears. Thomas follows suit.  
"Hi."  
"Hey Tommy."  
Newt wipes at his eyes. Thomas laughs.  
"So..." Thomas says.  
"So. This is it." Newt replies taking a step forward. Thomas steps forward to almost meet him, face to face.  
Sigh. "I'll miss you Newton, but you bet I'll be back with you as soon as I can. You know me, can't stay away."  
"Yep. I'll see you soon. You've been bloody remarkable."  
"So have you."  
Newt goes in for a hug and Thomas wraps his arms the whole way around Newt, hopefully not for the last time.  
"I love you Thomas."  
"I love you."

Newt walks with Thomas in complete silence towards the memory modification section of the medical lab. He doesn't want to ruin Newt's strength and calm.  
They stop outside. "Can you come in with me?" Newt asks, weakly.  
Thomas nods.  
They walk in and Thomas ignores the stares he gets from the staff.  
"Are you prepared Newton?" The doctor asks.  
"It was a great 1st attempt. I'm ready for round 2. 2nd times a charm, right?"  
Thomas laughs.  
Newt laughs with him.  
The doctor places a black shiny cap connected to wires on Newt's head.  
"3,2,1....."

Newt  
Everything around him looks too bright. The people around him look washed out and old. He wriggles around.  
"Newton. Your name is Newton. Your friends call you Newt." The man in a white robe repeats.  
"My name is Newton. My friend's call me Newt." He repeats.  
"Who are my friends?" Newt asks, curiously.  
"I'm your friend." A boy with black hair and big eyes says from beside him.  
Newt doesn't recognise anything in him, and finds no comfort in his words or in any prospect of his face.  
"I'm sorry, but I've never seen you in my life."

Thomas

Thomas feels his heart sink. He had hoped, that something in Newt would click in place again, when they looked at each other, even with his memory wiped. But, all that Thomas saw nothing in his eyes. They appeared disconnected and glassy when they found him. 

This had been expected but Thomas had held on anyway. It made him sadder than he realised. He knew he had to go into work mode, block out everything except the maze, and his friends that he had left. He suddenly regretted pushing Teresa away as much as he did. He loved her like a sister, he thinks he always will. He looks at Newt one more time, who sits lifting his hands and arms out in front of him and speculating on his appearance in the mirror. 

"I'm a bit bloody scrawny aint I?" He says. Thomas laughs. Newt snaps his head from the mirror to look at Thomas. "What're you still doing here? You must've really gave a shit right?"

"Yeah Newt. I really did." Thomas mutters loud enough for Newt to hear and turns on his heel and makes his way out of the lab. He puts Newt behind him.

Teresa is leaning against the wall outside. She springs up from the wall and turns to him. He almost expects her to ask how he is and put on a concerned face like in a dumb hospital drama. She is quiet for a minute and they stand making no effort to speak.

"Tom, I don't kno-"

"Teresa. You don't have to save anything. Really. He's behind me. You have my complete and undivided attention."

Teresa sighs. "If you're really sure."

"A hundred percent sure. It's calling out to me. I wanna help." He says determinedly.

Teresa nods. "We'll send him up in 20 minutes. Head for the control room, I need help controlling everything, making sure it runs smoothly. If all goes well he should be up safely with Alby in no time." 

Thomas nods. What he's doing is good. He repeats that inside his head over and over, until he convinces himself that it is.

Newt

He doesn't remember the boy at all. Not a spark of anything. He feels dumb and vulnerable. A teenage boy who doesn't know anything about himself at all. His family, what makes him happy, what he hates, who he loves. Does he even love anyone? Did he even have a family? These thoughts make him shiver. 

The boy with the dark brown hair seemed desperate for Newt to know him. Maybe he was missing something but the black haired boy seemed.... a bit glass half empty. Maybe a bit drained. He wasn't sure, but he could tell the boy was definitely not his usual self and he had a feeling that was something to do with him. The boy mentioned they were best friends before, but the way he said it felt so- NO. Newt didn't want to think about love with a stupid boy. Imagine! Newt in love with a boy. Laughable.

He still felt bad though. He really wanted to remember. He just couldn't. It bloody sucked.

The nurse tells him he will go up into a maze and complete a trial, to help save the human race. So much bloody weight on his shoulders. 

She also tells him he'll be gassed and disorientated and he'll come up into the maze forgetting everything but his name,and everything they're speaking of now. That makes him shiver. He won't remember the boy with the dark brown hair. He's alarmed by the fact that he's eager and curious to know more about the boy, to ask him questions about what he was like before he lost his memory, how he was annoying, why he was good. He just wanted to know so much and he had so little time. 

He pricks up his head when the nurse calls to him and says he is ready to go. He is unsure if she means go somewhere other than here or go go. He takes his chances.

"What was the name of that boy?" 

The nurse lifts her head from the sheets of paper and folders in front of her.

"Ah, yes. That's your Thomas. You went to school together before this happened. You were very close."

Newt is satisfied with that answer and he thanks her.

After a minute or so of silence the nurse walks to the door and beckons for him.

"It's time."

Thomas

Teresa clears her throat. "Here's going up. They're gassing him in-" She inhales.

"5

4

3

2

1

It's done"

Thomas releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. Newt is behind him now. All he has now, all he will think of when he sees the boy's brown eyes and ashy blonde hair is his subject. His subject A5. The memory of Newt is gone. He shuts off that part of his brain, the part that cares.

"He's in the box. He should be up and out in the next 4 and a half minutes." Teresa says, reaching over and squeezing his arm. He turns and smiles gratefully back at her. 

Thomas waits, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. Will Newt have woken up yet? Will he be scared and yelling? Or will he be speechless? Thomas is too afraid to put on the headphones or so much as glance at the monitor. He doesn't deserve to see Newt at his most vulnerable. 

Newt

He sits in the corner of the metal cage he's trapped in, shaking slightly. It swings and jolts and makes loud clunking and banging noises that scare him half to death, but he won't be childish and yell, although he knows nothing of where it's taking him. 

It grinds to a halt quickly, taking him by surprise. The opening above him widens and he blinks up against the bright daylight and humidity which feels strange on his skin. It makes him feel strangely happy. He knows that wherever he was before that he didn't go outside and feel warmth on his skin or breathe fresh air often. As scared shitless as he is, he has a sense that one day this place will be some form of a home.

A boy, with dark skin and a bright smile jumps down with an outstretched arm to assist him.

"I'm Alby. Name?"

The boy pauses.   
"My name is Newton, but my friends call me Newt."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> newt is in the maze, thomas is struggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry again if the pov switching is too much :((((

Newt  
"Well Newt, it's good to meet you."  
Newt nods, glancing around at his surroundings.  
Its almost silent, they seem to be held in some kind of walled enclosure, filled with green grass and trees. Nothing else he picks up on other than a wooden hut or two.

"Where is everyone else?"  
Alby sighs, patting Newt's shoulder.  
"It's just you and me buddy, this is all we got."  
Newt's heart jumps a little. Just him and a stranger — who he's slightly afraid of — and an empty field.  
"Ah, fun."  
"Lucky for you, that makes you my second in command!" Alby says, with a grin.  
Newt walks out into the centre of the grass and smiles back at the boy.  
"What do you do here?" Newt asks, sitting down and looking around.  
"I'm still tryna figure that out, Greenie. Been a month here alone, and I still don't know what I'm doing."  
Newt looks up at him, squinting into the sun. "What'd you just call me?"  
"Greenie. I'm testing it out, it's like a name for the new ones." Alby sits down beside him.  
"Pretty bloody strange if you're asking me."  
"Good thing I'm not then, huh?" Alby says with a wink.  
Newt's heart squirms a bit in his chest.  
"Shall I give you the tour then?"  
Newt nods and they stand up together, he's not really sure what there is to tour but he'd rather be toured around some grass than sit alone and worry about what those walls are.  
"Lets go then!" Alby says, guiding him towards the trees.

Thomas  
Thomas glances at Newt through the screens, his heart aching to be near him again, somewhat jealous of the new friend Newt is making. He knows its right, he knows he shouldn't feel so jealous about something he can't control. This whole initiative is for the greater good of the people around him, but right now he feels selfish for caring only about himself and Newt. They're worlds apart now, he's just struggling to accept it.  
'Tom, how you doing?' Teresa whispers into Thomas' head.  
'Don't want to talk today, Teresa. Get out of my head'  
Teresa doesn't say anything else, and so he assumes she got the message. He feels bad, but not bad enough to apologise. He doesn't feel that he needs to, not today.

He focuses on helping the Maze to run smoothly, trying his best to block Newt out, but its incredibly difficult when Newt's face is plastered on large screens across the room at every angle.  
He pushes buttons, administrates the screens and the activity of the Maze for about 3 more hours, his mind going slowly more and more numb, his mind slipping into a dull haze.  
He doesn't notice when Chancellor Paige enters and makes her way towards him.

"Thomas."  
He allows himself to swivel in his desk chair so he is facing her.  
"Yes?" He says, showing her in his manner that he would rather not be talking to her.  
She pauses and lets out a barely audible sigh.  
"I know you don't have any interest in talking to me, I just wanted to make sure you're okay, I know today must've been tough on you."  
Thomas is pulled out of his haze for a split second and he feels hurt for the first time in a few hours, but it is gone shortly and he begins to float away again.  
He simply nods.  
"Ok, I'll leave you, but I do not want you in here anymore, you've been enslaved at these monitors and keypads for hours. Go to bed. It's an order."  
Thomas nods again, and pulls his body up from the chair, stretching out his stiff limbs as he does so.

He follows her out of the door and is faced with the bleak, cold and overly sanitised hallway. It is harsh an unwelcoming to him. His eyes had grown accustomed to the warm sandy and green tones of the Maze, and the sunlight from the sky and the implied warmth that accompanied it. He couldn't feel it, but he knew Newt could.

Oh. There goes the twinge of pain in his chest again.  
He is grateful when he slips back into the fog and feels restful once again.

He watches Ms Paige walk away from him, her heels clicking on the floor and her lab coat grazing her ankles.  
He lets out a sharp breath, and is reminded of Teresa. He regrets how he treated her. After all, it's just him and her from now on, he truly has no one else but her.  
He pushes out his mind and reaches out to her.

'Teresa, sorry about earlier. I'm not myself whatsoever right now. Where are you? I could do with a friendly face.'  
Satisfied with his statement, he pauses and waits for a reply.  
He feels dumb, standing alone in a hallway, waiting for someone, -who isn't there- to reply to him, in his head.  
How, out of all the people alive did he get this fucked up.  
He laughs to himself quietly, realising how ridiculous his life was and is.

He's so distracted he doesn't notice  
Teresa standing in-front of him, waving a hand in his face.  
"Thomas! Are you delusional? What is happening?" She asks, genuinely concerned for him.  
"I'm okay, promise." He says, attempting to be as convincing as possible.  
Teresa raises an eyebrow but says nothing, casually checking her watch.  
"We should be going to bed. My brain is fried after being in that control room so long," She pauses. "And I mean, sorry Tom but you look completely awful."  
Thomas drops his jaw in mock disgust, with a hint of genuine surprise.  
"You're a bitch, you know that?" Thomas laughs, punching her arm.  
She shrugs and shoves him gently away from her.  
"Ok I was kidding but seriously, get some rest Tom, 'kay?"  
"Got it." Thomas says, turning to walk to his room.  
"Love you" Teresa says, before squeezing him tightly, turning on her heel, and walking away.  
Thomas smiles, exhales, and goes to bed.

Thomas  
He wakes up, his alarm blaring, painfully aware that he has to go back to the control room. He feels suddenly anxious, worried that maybe Newt was dumb enough to starve himself or get lost within 24 hours of arriving.  
He attempts to convince himself that Newt really isn't that stupid, but something still feels off.

He pulls on a clean shirt and jeans, slides on his trainers and pushes open the door, the hallway outside his room already in full swing. Long white lab coats and clicky black shoes fill the hall.  
Everyone seems to be rushing today, in a hurry to be somewhere, to do something, although he isn't aware of what. There's nothing in his schedule for today that's of any importance.

He starts to walk in the general direction that everyone else seems to be walking in, like a lost lamb, until a friendly nurse who Thomas is familiar with grabs his arm.  
"Where do you think you're going?" She whispers, tightening her grip on his wrist.  
"W-woah, steady. I was just following everyone else, I have no idea what's happening"  
The nurse sighs. "You and Teresa aren't to follow them, Paige and Jason say so. I'm sorry, it's for the best."  
Thomas' heart jolts a little bit in his chest, with anxiety or curiosity he isn't sure. He wants to know what could be so important that he isn't permitted to attend, because he knows almost everything about this organisation now, what could they possibly be hiding from him and Teresa. Especially Teresa. There's no one who believes that WCKD is good more than she does.

"Just go straight to controls, and don't get in the way."  
He nods, wriggling his wrist out from her tightly locked fingers that enclosed it.  
"I'll be good."  
The nurse nods, smiles and turns on her heel to leave.

Newt  
The humidity feels sticky and clings onto his skin, and the beads of sweat that rest on his forehead, slip down the side of his face and slowly drip from his jaw and chin.  
He is uncomfortable, exhausted and anxious.

He is surrounded by foreign land, an almost complete stranger, and he slept for almost no hours at all. He misses whatever he had before, because although he possesses no memories of his previous life, he is sure it must have been significantly better than this. Or at least he hoped it was.

God, he hated this place.  
He hated watching the sunrise because it was exasperating, feeling that it had only been a few minutes since the sun had set, he hated the heat, he hated the walls and the grass, but most painfully, how utterly alone he felt.

Sure, he had Alby, but you can only go so long with a person alone before you want to eat their bloody brains.  
He wondered how Alby had managed to be completely alone for so long, and not climbed up one of those stone walls and jumped right off.

Newt found being in the presence of only one other human being insufferable enough, he could not imagine being in the position that Alby was before he arrived.  
If he was grateful for one thing, he was grateful he'd never have to be completely alone.

"Rise and shine Greenie!" Alby says, extending a hand to help Newt to stand.  
Newt covers his face from the glaring sun and grips the other boys hands and pulls up his weight so he is standing.  
"Cheers"  
Alby nods.  
"Sleep okay?"  
Newt shakes his head. "Absolutely shucking terrible, actually."  
Alby pauses and flashes his pearly white teeth, swivelling his body to face him.  
"What'd you say?"  
"Shucking?" He shrugs "Yeah, I'm not so sure where that came from."  
"I like it, has a nice ring to it." Alby says with a wink.  
Newt feels a small rush of adrenaline whizz through his veins, which creates a buzz across his body. He visibly shudders, and prays Alby didn't see.

"Want something to eat?"

Thomas  
Thomas sits at his computer, gnawing at his thumb, the skin slowly becoming raw and painful.  
He sits uncomfortably in his chair.  
He knows the look in Newt's eyes and the way he is acting. God, he knows it almost too well.  
It's the same way Newt acted when they started getting closer, when it had seemed like maybe there was a different kind of energy developing between them.

He wishes he could be with Newt, as he always does, but this time he wishes to prevent what he is most fearful of;  
Newt falling for someone else.

His heart feels weighed down in his chest as he imagines Newt looking at Alby and talking to Alby the way that he used to look and talk to Thomas.

But there's nothing Thomas can do except watch it all unfold in front of him, so why should he care so much?

He minimises the screen and slides off his headphones, placing them neatly over the monitor.

"You okay?" Teresa asks, resting her headphones around her neck and twisting in her chair to face him, with a face of genuine concern.  
He grabs an apple from the desk in the middle of the room, sits down in his chair and puts his feet up on the desk, taking a large - and extremely obnoxious - bite out of it.

Teresa sighs, shakes her head and pulls her headphones over her ears.  
"I can't help you if you act like this Tom." She says, without facing him.

He breathes deeply. "I know"  
She takes another deep sigh, and proceeds to click loudly on her keyboard keys, and tap her foot on the floor.

He stops paying attention for a while, focusing on the apple in his hand, living in the moment, or whatever.  
He hears Teresa make a sound, but he can't tell if it's an exclamation or a sigh, so he blatantly ignores her.  
But this is made difficult when she starts yelling at him in his head.

"Jesus christ Teresa, WHAT?" He yells, dropping his apple in the process.

"I just thought you should see this."


	10. Chapter 10

Thomas  
Thomas leapt forward out of his chair, completely startled by what lay on the screen in front of him.  
"Teresa... what is that?" He said, his voice quivering slightly.  
Teresa shook her head in disbelief.  
"No, no it can't be.. they promised.. they said they wouldn't." Teresa muttered quickly under her breath, zooming in on the monitor.  
What Thomas saw before him was something absolutely monstrous. It sent chills down his spine, especially when it moved, or rather, rolled around the maze.  
It made horrific sounds as it's many spikes and spears tapped against the cold, stone ground.

"You knew about this?" Thomas said, flipping his head towards Teresa, who was nervously scratching her neck.  
"Yes Tom, I did. But I didn't know they  
would ever release them." She paused and shook her head. "They're lethal."

Thomas felt his heart sink, further and further down until it felt like it was sitting in his gut.  
Newt was in there. Newt was so incredibly close to that thing.  
Thomas didn't have any words, so he reached out to her inside his head.  
"What are they called?"  
There was a short pause from Teresa.  
"They're called Grievers."

Even the name brought a sweeping feeling of nausea across Thomas' body.  
He didn't think he could handle asking what they could do, so he was quiet.

"So that's the meeting we were banned from going to huh?" Thomas said, sipping some water from the bottle that sat on his desk, shakily.  
Teresa nodded.  
"Janson promised I would be there when they discussed anything to do with the grievers, but I guess I shouldn't trust him to keep promises in the future."  
Thomas shook his head. "I don't think I ever trusted him, don't think I ever will."  
Teresa sighed. "Remember Tom, WCKD is.."  
"Good, yeah yeah, I know" Thomas replied, cutting her off sharply.  
"I'm just having trouble believing that right now."  
"They're not designed to come out during the day, and I'm sure Alby knows no one should be behind those walls after dark." Teresa peered at Thomas warily through her hair.  
"Newt is going to be fine Tom, I'll-" She paused "We'll make sure of it."  
Thomas nodded his head, not feeling like saying anything else.

Newt  
"Hey Alby, what's that sound?" Newt said, pressing his ear up against the stone walls.  
Night had fallen, and the large stone doors had slid, loudly and painfully together.  
"Newt, I've learnt not to question anything that goes on in that maze, so neither should you."  
Newt ignored him and focused harder, and latched on to the sounds he could hear.  
Click. Scrape. Tap. Click. Scrape. Tap  
The sequence continued like that, every sound seeming more mechanical than the other.  
Alby could tell Newt was worked up about it and so let out a deep sigh and walked over to press his ear to the wall.  
Alby jumped just a little at the sound, with wide eyes.  
"No, I've never heard that before." Alby said, shaking his head and standing back from the hard grey barrier that stood between them and the unknown.  
"It sounds like a machine." Newt commented, anxiously looking at Alby.  
"I-I wouldn't worry about it too much Newt, it won't bother us."  
He could tell Alby was just trying to make him feel better, because he didn't look as calm as he spoke.

He made the executive decision to not worry about it anyway. Alby was probably right, it wouldn't bother him. Those walls were thick, so surely, they'd keep everything sealed away, or at least he hoped they would. He was just glad he didn't have to go behind those bloody walls anytime soon. Everything about them gave him the creeps.

"Seriously, Newt. Just relax and go to sleep." Alby said, pressing his hand on Newt's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "I'll protect you" He said, followed by a wink, that made Newt shudder. "'Night then Alby."

"'Night then Newt."

Newt watched Alby walk away, watching the way his body moved and listening to his footsteps softly meeting the ground. He let out a sigh. "Not gonna happen" He muttered under his breath.

He stepped back wards so his back and his spine were pressed against the cold, hard stone. He breathed some fresh and cold night air into his lungs. He focused on the silent of the night and heard it again.

Click. Scrape. Tap.

It relaxed him. It was formulaic and repetitive. He longed to know what the source of it was, and something within him wanted to climb up the shucking walls and see what was behind, but he knew he couldn't. Unless he had a death wish.

He pulled his knees into his chest and became as small as he could and rested his chin on his knees and closed his eyes.  
He pushed his memory, in attempt to picture what his life was like before he arrived here.

He pictured his parents, sitting on the edge of his bed, watching over him.  
Surely, this would bring him comfort, but their faces were blank, and featureless. They owned no resemblance to him or anyone he knew. It was unsettling.  
And still, how did he know they even existed, or if they even loved him?

They must have. He could feel it.  
The feeling was rooted in a cold and distant place, but it was there nonetheless.

But alas, he fell painfully back into reality almost as soon as he had left.

Click. Scrape. Tap.  
Click. Scrape. Tap.

It was time for Newt to sleep.

\---------

Thomas  
"Okay let's prep boy 5 for being sent up please" Thomas said into the intercom, his voice steady. He didn't want to make them think he was nervous. Teresa normally did this job, it was part of their routine now.  
But this time, he felt he owed it to Newt.  
In the past 3 months, he had watched Newt struggle in the Maze. He'd watched Newt's many sleepless nights, and the nightmares.  
It hurt him, painfully, to see Newt like this, but he had tried to numb himself to it now.

"Boy 5 is ready for you, Thomas" A WCKD doctor said through the doorway.  
Thomas spun in his chair, and stood up. His legs shaking slightly.  
"His memory has been wiped?" Thomas asked, hesitantly.  
"No, not yet. We thought we'd leave that to you."  
Thomas stopped dead in his tracks.  
"And why did you think that?" He hissed, clenching his fists.  
"You know him Thomas, maybe you'd like to say goodbye."  
"N-no. Not to him." Thomas said , his voice breaking with a mix of anger and emotion. He couldn't, that boy didn't deserve a goodbye.

"Tom, breathe. I'll do it." Teresa said, with her hand tightly on his shoulder, sensing his stress.  
He nodded, but remained silent.  
"Okay, what's the boy's name." Teresa asked, taking a step forward.  
"Gally. His name is Gally" The doctor said, opening the sliding door into the hospital facility.  
Thomas should've turned and ran, but his eyes were drawn to the boy.  
Gally made eye contact.  
"Oh would you look at that! It's Tommy." Gally exclaimed, with a wink.  
Thomas couldn't face him, he couldn't look into his eyes.  
"Goodbye, Gally." He whispered.

Newt  
The sun was hot on his face as he sat down next to Minho and Alby.  
Alby looked up at him and shielded his eyes from the glare before speaking.

"We're getting a new one today man."  
Newt nodded.  
"You mean Frypan has really been here for a month?" Minho said, with a laugh.  
"Yeah, I guess he has."

Newt knew that. He had been counting the days since he got here, scribing tallies in the maze wall.  
"Maybe this new guy will have the bloody balls to come into the maze with me."  
Minho and Alby swiftly turned their heads to look at him.  
"Newt, I said I would, but not in this heat." Minho said, frowning.  
"You always have a bloody excuse Minho"  
"Damn right I do. We don't know what's out there"  
"And that's exactly why we should be bloody out there!" Newt said, exasperated.  
"Look, do what you want. I'm not getting myself killed. That's all."  
Silence fell over them.  
"Who want's breakfast?" Frypan yelled from the kitchen door.  
That was enough to distract them for a while.

Newt sat down on the grass next to the box, waiting. Normally, they were sent up when the sun was highest in the sky, and that time was approaching. Fast.  
He stared into the pit where the box lay. This months supplies had been sent up a few days prior. He was now accustomed to the creaking and the groaning the box made as it moved.  
It was a source of excitement now. He was supposed to fear the strange and unknown, but instead, he was fascinated by it, thrown by it.  
That's why he was so eager to go into the maze.  
Not knowing what was behind those walls was unsettling, in ways he couldn't describe.  
Time and time again, he'd crave some action, some answers. He wanted to clamber up the vines on the walls and stand on the top, allowing himself to confront his curiosity, at last.  
But Alby wouldn't let him. And he trusted Alby most.  
He had to, they were leaders together. Trust was important.

Newt had become lost in his thoughts, and the intense rattling brought him back to solid ground.  
"Let's go boys" Minho said, stretching out a muscular arm to help Newt to his feet.  
He watched as the box ground to a halt. He heard the doors screech open, to present their new boy. Their greenie.  
He had thick and expressive eyebrows, chopped brown hair and a perpetually angry expression settled into this face.  
This boy wasn't scared in the slightest, in fact, Newt felt a little threatened, just by looking at him.

"Gally." Was all that he said.  
"Welcome to the Glade, Gally." Alby said, helping him out of the enclosure.  
"Huh."  
"Not talkative is he" Frypan whispered to Newt, with a chuckle.  
Newt smiled and nodded. "I know how that feels."

Thomas  
"Gally, I'm Newt. Second in command."

Thomas watched as Newt took a step closer to Gally, with an outstretched hand.  
Gally took it, peacefully and easily, like he was a stranger.  
Which, of course, he was.  
Neither boy was aware of the past, of the pain Gally had caused Newt. But Thomas was aware.

"I hate it" He communicated to Teresa. He felt the connection light up. She was listening.  
"I know, Tom. But you have to accept it."  
Teresa. Always saying what he didn't want to hear.  
"I don't know how."  
She paused.  
"If you love him like I think you do, you'll learn how."  
Thomas didn't know how to reply to that.  
He wanted to hurt Gally. He wanted him as far away from Newt that he could be, but, now there was nothing he could do.  
Newt wasn't his problem anymore.  
Or at least, he wasn't his problem in the way he wanted.  
He wanted to protect him, to hold him and to be able to care for him.  
But instead, he had to regulate and record and manipulate everything Newt saw as reality.  
Thomas had created a twisted world, a twisted and destroyed world, and he had placed Newt bang in the middle of it.  
For that, he would always be sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> minho finally decides that he'll go and explore the maze with newt.

Newt  
"Do you know what today is?" Minho asked, pressing his hand firmly onto Newt's shoulder as they walked alongside each other.  
Newt briefly hesitated.  
"Is Frypan making stew again?"  
Minho laughed, giving Newt's shoulder a friendly and slightly patronising squeeze.  
"Not quite. Think bigger."  
"Alby is cleaning out the clunk buckets?"  
Minho just shook his head aggressively this time, with a smile, swerving so he was walking backwards to face Newt.  
"It's Maze day."  
Newt stopped abruptly, his words and his breath catching in his throat.  
"You're ready to come into the Maze? I swear to GOD, if you're pulling my bloody leg...."  
Minho grinned. "Dead serious Newt. Gally said he'll come too."  
Newt felt a little taken aback. Gally has barely uttered a word since he arrived about a week ago, and already had some form of authority over Minho.  
That said, he was grateful that Minho had finally come around. He had been aching to step foot into the Maze for months. He needed to know what was out there, and today would be one huge leap into the unknown. Newt was thrilled.  
"When do we leave?"  
"Whenever you want, chief." Minho said with a wink.  
"How about 10 minutes?"  
Minho sucked in a nervous breath. "Okay. 10 minutes it is."

Newt, Minho and Gally stood facing the large, intimidating stone walls. All Newt could see between them was more towering and uneven stone, clad in moss and ivy. It was dark inside the Maze.  
Minho started to bounce on the balls of his feet, wiping the sweat from his brow.  
"Let's do it then"  
"I've got nothing to fear" Gally said with a smirk.  
"Don't come crying to me when you run away screaming bloody murder, greenie" Newt said, replying with an equally obnoxious look.  
Gally adjusted his grip on his sharpened stick, which they had all somehow fashioned to act as a spear, glaring. Newt felt uncomfortable having a weapon in his hand. It was like a bad omen, as if they were summoning the evils to stand at their doorstep. Newt shuddered. But he was excited.

Thomas  
He watched the screens, adjusting the camera angle to show Newts face, to try and understand how he was feeling. He had rejoiced at the comment Newt had made, grateful that present Newt disliked Gally just as much as past Newt had.  
Thomas had no fears of the Maze. Of course not, because he had created it, and he was controlling it.  
But he could not prepare himself for the terror that overcame every inch of his body when he realised that he had to control the Maze while Newt was within its walls.  
He had near enough got down on his knees to beg Teresa to do it for him, but this morning she had been detained in a meeting with Janson. Thomas had wondered if this was truly a coincidence, or a plan on behalf of Janson to torture him. He guessed it was the latter. Janson has never tried to better Thomas' life. Never. And he didn't think now would be the time to start.

Thomas' hands hesitated over the controls, and he sat watching as they trembled slightly. The three boys stood proudly in front of the mass of stone, completely unaware of what lay before them. It was all in Thomas' hands.  
He was most grateful that they had the brains to go during the day, because the grievers were out of the equation when the sun was still up, and that made his job almost simple. Still difficult, of course, but simple.

Newt was the first to put a foot forward. Thomas watched as his body was enveloped in the shadows, and the camera view switched to inside the walls. The shadows were kind to Newt.  
They accentuated the natural curve of his cheekbones and jaw, and made his eyes seem dark and intimidating. Thomas felt a twinge in his chest, but pushed it away.

Newt  
Newt stood in the darkness, waiting.  
Minho stepped in to stand beside him, and Gally came in closely after.  
They stood in the mouth of the Maze, all simultaneously turning their heads to glance at the warmth, the sun and the comfort of the soft green grass behind them.  
Ahead of them now was the opposite of what they knew.  
There was stone stretching out in uneven slabs on the floor, with weeds and shrubbery coming up from the cracks. The walls stretched metres and metres above their heads, with ivy crawling and clinging to every inch.  
Most dauntingly, however, was the way that the path stretched both right and left.  
They had to chose.  
They were no longer in the open grassy plain, where, despite being rendered unable to ever leave, they felt safe, happy and secure.  
Their fate now rested in the hands of the Maze, and in the path that they chose. They did not know and would never be able to guess what lay beyond.  
Newt shuddered, unable to express his thoughts with words.  
He was glad they had the brightness of the sun to illuminate their path, as he feared that without it, they would be left in the pitch black.  
As curious as he was, he wasn't eager to see what the Maze looked like in the dead of the night.  
Minho began to roll backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet again, wiping his sweaty palm on the soft material of his trousers. He looked longingly back at the safety of what was behind them.  
"You can go Minho. No one is stopping you." Newt said, trying his best to be calm.  
Minho shook his head aggressively. "No, I'm staying" He laughed weakly and looked at them both through the black strands of hair falling into his eyes.  
"Besides, you two idiots wouldn't survive without me"  
Newt laughed, matching the weakness of his friends voice.  
Gally made no attempt to agree, but instead, took a step ahead and turned to stand stoically before them.  
"What's it gonna be boys? Right or left?"

They chose right.

Newt felt a wave of nausea creep over him as they took the first few steps and felt the light of the glade fizzle out, leaving the safety and the comfort behind them.  
Ahead was a long stretch of dark, cavernous maze. The walls loomed over them on either side, and the cracked and overlapping stone panelling on the floor felt uncomfortable and unfamiliar under their feet.  
Gally poked a particularly uneven slab with the tip of his foot, with a sigh.  
"Seems like a tripping hazard to me."  
Newt exhaled quickly through his nose, in an attempt to even just pretend he found Gally funny, and lighten the mood.  
It didn't work. All of them were just as terrified as they were before.  
"What do we do?" Minho asked, alternating between looking ahead of them and looking over his shoulder. Out of the trio, Minho was most uneasy.  
"I say we walk. Take it slow." Gally said, with an obnoxious and nonchalant tone of voice, making Newts skin crawl.  
"Baby steps. Good idea." Minho said, stretching his fingers out of their tight fists and exhaling. "What do you think, Newt?"  
Newt nodded and with a soft laugh, said "Walking is fine. Until dark at least, then we might need to bloody sprint."  
"You're joking, right?" Minho said, a quiver in his voice.  
"I bloody hope I am mate. We don't know what's out there, but that's always the fun part, right?"  
Minho winced at these words.

"Minho. It'll be fine" Newt said, placing a slightly clammy palm on Minho's shoulder, reassuringly. Minho nodded. "Let's just head back before dusk, to be safe"

Gally and Newt nodded simultaneously in agreement. Gally took a few steps further into the darkness, swinging his spear over his shoulder, whistling. The whistle echoed and bounced off the walls and Newt felt suddenly aware of the pure emptiness and vastness before them, and how they knew nothing at all about what lay at it's centre.

He followed Gally earnestly, Minho following warily, clutching his spear tightly in his fist. The morning sun was beating down on their backs, but the shadows bore the weight of the heat and they felt it very little. In fact, Newt was sure the other boys were as grateful as he was for a break from the sunstroke and sweat. He allowed himself to feel at ease, despite the unnerving nature of their trip.

They walked on slowly, for about 2 hours, stopping occasionally, leaving marks on walls as they passed them, and knotting vines at corners as they turned them, so they wouldn't get lost on their return. That was Minho's idea - of course -. Despite his fear, he had a good, logical head on his shoulders. Newt wished he was like that.

In truth, Newt wished for a lot of things, yet, nothing he wished for he had ever received. It was frustrating - being mediocre.

"Hey, Newt. I'm talking to you." Gally said, poking the flesh of Newt's bare arm lightly with the head of his spear. Newt felt the prick, but didn't give Gally the satisfaction of knowing it hurt. He nodded instead.

"What do you think? Do we turn back or keep going?" Minho said, his eyes locking with Newt's. They seemed to be pleading for him to back down, and go home. Newt paused and felt his heart sink a little. Minho was never afraid like this, never vulnerable.

But there was so much more to see.

"I vote go on ahead." He said confidently, dropping his eyes to the floor. He felt Minho's glare burning into the back of his head. He felt guilty.

"Ahead it is." Gally said, with a smirk in Minho's direction. More guilt.

They moved at a faster pace than before, Minho leading ahead, sometimes shifting from his fast walk into a light jog, going up and knotting the vines and using the stone he had picked up to mark the wall with a tally. Nothing much caught their attention, no signs of life or of movement or of a way out. Newt was growing impatient, frustrated, and angry that he had allowed himself to raise his expectations so highly.

Minho stopped abruptly and spun on his heel to face them. He opened his mouth to speak and Newt cut him off before he had said a word.

"I'm sorry Minho, okay. I thought everything would slot in to place as soon as we got here, and the answers we all wanted would be within reach, but I was bloody stupid and so bloody naïve, I shouldn't have brought us out here. The whole day is nearly gone and we have nothing for Alby. Nothing."

Thomas

Thomas looked down at the screen, adjusting the camera to rest on Newt's face and feeling more guilty than he ever had for what he had done.

Thomas had those answers Newt so desperately wanted. He had those answers because, well, he designed the questions to every minute detail. Newt would not be standing there, upset, infuriated and trapped if it wasn't for Thomas, and despite the effort Teresa put in to convince him he was doing it for the greater good, the regret he felt was irrepressible. He had sent the boy that he loved into that Glade and into that Maze like a lamb for slaughter. Newt - and all of the others boys for that matter - knew nothing of what existed beyond the bubble they inhabited and what dangers and horrors came out to bite when the Maze doors closed and the sun dropped behind the walls.

Thomas jerked his head up as those thoughts crossed his mind, to gaze at the virtual sky that rested like a dome above the expanse of grass and stone that protected Newt, and felt his stomach begin to churn. The clock set up on the monitor was ticking, and taunting him, because he could do nothing. Nothing at all.

Dusk was upon them and the boys were far, far away from home.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> newt, minho and gally make their way through the maze, completely unaware of what's hiding in the maze.

Newt

The boys stood next to each other, hearts racing, uncomfortably bending their necks to look at the sky. It was a lot darker than Newt had thought. 

"Well what now, shuckhead?" Minho said, with a snarl, looking at Newt, then at Gally and then back at Newt. 

"Look, we'll be okay as long as we make it back before the doors close." Newt said, glancing nervously back into the the cavernous maze, which was progressively getting darker, and subsequently, it was making him more afraid. "We've got the tied ivy, it'll be fine" 

Minho shook his head with a sneer that made Newt squirm with guilt. "They'd help if we could actually see them, so unless you've got magical flame producing powers, we've just KILLED ourselves" 

Minho was becoming inconsolable, and Gally could tell, but he wasn't known for his ability to calm people down, so he just raised an expectant eyebrow at Newt. 

"Bloody hell Minho, I'm sorry. I already made that clear, but there's nothing we can do now, so we better bloody leg it and before you know it, we'll be back in the glade, safe and sound." 

Minho sighed and hung his head. Newt put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Besides, we don't know what's out here, could be some bloody bunny rabbits for all we know." 

This got a laugh and so Newt was satisfied. He rolled his shoulders back and looked up at the sky, it wasn't quite pitch black yet - they had time. 

He turned his head around the nearest corner and spotted a knot in the vine on the left wall. He headed confidently towards it, calling the others two to follow behind, and as the maze became enclosed in further darkness, they worked cautiously around the corners, sticking closely to each other, so close in fact, that Newt felt Minho's quick breath on the back of his neck, and it comforted him. He was more scared than he was letting on, but, 'if you ain't scared, you ain't human', Alby had always said. 

Thomas 

"Teresa, I won't do it." he said, frantically. 

Teresa was looking at him, and somehow it was both a condescending look, but also a look of intense guilt and sympathy. "You know you have to, Tom" she said, putting her hand on top of his. He pulled his quickly away, and she flinched, although he knew she understood. 

"But you know exactly why I can't" he whispered, feeling completely hopeless. 

Teresa turned to look around the room. Janson was whispering to Chancellor Paige in the corner, and Thomas could feel Janson's eyes burning into his neck, while simultaneously, feeling Chancellor Paige's soft, pity filled gaze washing over him, without ever meeting her eyes. 

"Thomas, you know this is the only way..." Janson said, in such a way that made Thomas jump up from his chair and inhale a sharp and aggressive breath. 

"The only way to what, Janson? The only way to kill the person I-" he dropped his eyes. "The only person who's ever really known me." Thomas could almost feel Teresa's hurt to that. He'd apologise later. 

"You know, Thomas, that's not what we want to do. You know it's for the greater good." Ms Paige said, taking a step towards him. Thomas took a step back. 

"Letting some god damn GRIEVERS on them is not for the greater good, and shit, forgive me if I've got things twisted, but what about murder is for the greater good? I can't take this anymore. It needs to stop." 

"Thomas, you know when it'll stop. When we get what we need to find a cure." Ms Paige said, with an outstretched hand.

"I'm a kid, sure, but I'm not dumb enough to believe that there's really a way out of this. You've got to accept that in the end-" Thomas' voice and legs shook, his anger and lack of eating lead him to feel light headed. "-In the end, you've stripped me of what made me a kid, what made all of us kids" he said, beckoning to the boys on the screen behind him, "and sent us out to die." 

Thomas hadn't noticed, but he was crying. For himself, and for Teresa, and even for Gally, but most of all, he was crying for Newt. 

"Teresa." he said, connecting with her in his head. 

"There's something I have to do. Please stall them. And I'm sorry, about everything I said, you're the only one left in this place that I trust."

"I know, Tom. I'll do what I can, but try not to do anything dumb."

Thomas walked shakily towards the door, stopping in front of Janson. "I'm going to bed."

Janson opened his mouth to speak. "Yeah, WCKD is good, whatever." Thomas said, not giving him the satisfaction of saying the words himself. 

He watched the door slide mechanically open in front of him, and he stepped out into the perfectly white and sterile hallway. He waited until he was sure they weren't looking at him, and he walked in the opposite direction of his bedroom. He was headed towards Janson's office. He hoped Teresa would give Newt more time. 

Newt 

It had been about 30 minutes since they had started to make their way back. It was pitch black now, and they struggled to see the knots in the vines, but they moved slowly, and carefully, and for the most part, they felt safe. 

Gally did, clearly. He was whistling again, and it bounced freely off the walls and into the open air, echoing clearly above the three of them. Minho and Newt had tried to shut up him, but as it was making them uncomfortable, Gally had no visible intention of stopping. Newt hated him. He felt like maybe he had some innate instinct that made him hate bullies like Gally. Maybe it was something from his life before the maze.

Newt took a few steps forward and turned his head around the corner of the next wall, before he heard a clank, like something hitting the ground. He flicked his head swiftly back towards Minho and Gally, and saw that all their make-shift spears were still firmly in their hands. 

"If that wasn't one of us, what was it?" Newt said, warily. 

They heard it again, and it felt like it was getting closer. 

None of them were able to speak, their backs pressed firmly up against the wall, their breathing and heartbeats saying everything that they couldn't. The sound came and went in intervals, there would be big gaps, where they'd try to move between the knots in the ivy, hoping each time, that the next corner they turned would lead them to the welcoming expanse of grass that was home to them.

They hadn't heard the mechanical sound coming any closer in a few minutes, so Gally stepped out into the seemingly empty corridor of maze, and looked to his and left, and to his right.

"No need to be scared, shanks. I can't see anything here." he said in a hoarse whisper.

Newt nodded, and decided to check the other passageway on the other side. He stepped lightly out to the side, carefully trying to make no noise at all. He couldn't see much, but he could make out the vines that climbed the stone, and managed to spot another knot Minho had tied.

"There's a knot over there, it's not far." he said, turning his head towards Minho and Gally, who nodded in response. They jogged swiftly and silently over, holding tightly to their spears, in fear dropping one would provoke the source of the noise to move closer to them.

It was all okay, until Gally tripped on one of the uneven slabs of stone that made up the maze floor. He fell to his knees, while simultaneously dropping his spear. Newt and Minho watched and winced as it fell to the ground with a clatter, rolling a few feet to Gally's right. Even Gally held his breath as he watched it roll away.

It was silent for a brief moment. Then they watched as a mechanical arm jumped out of the shadows and snapped the spear in half, with what appeared to be very little effort. Gally gulped.

"Shit." Minho said, before grabbing Newt by the arm and shouting; "RUN you dumb shanks!"

Newt started to follow Minho as quickly as he could, checking behind him to see Gally was following close behind, with panicked eyes.

Minho abruptly turned a corner, indicating he had seen a knot in the vine. Newt followed blindly, turning the corner violently and scratching his arm against an ivy branch on the wall. He winced, but didn't stop to dwell on it.

Once they had turned the next corner, Newt heard a slow, crunching sound behind him. He snapped his head back to see that the large stone walls had begun to move closer together. They were closing, and the maze itself was changing. "Minho?" he yelled, able to make out the lean build of the boy running in front of him, Minho glanced back, his eyes widening.

"Newt, where's Gally?"

Newt stopped running, and turned his entire body to face the blocks of stone that had moved half way to their closure. He could see Gally alright, but Gally was behind them.

"RUN GALLY!" he yelled, watching as the walls moved, inch by inch, closer together. Gally wasn't as slim as Newt was, his shoulders were wide and muscular, and Newt began to worry there wasn't enough space for him to make it through. Gally had visible fear for his life painted all over his face, and in that fleeting moment, Newt wanted nothing more than for Gally to live, despite the hatred he had always had for him.

Minho and Newt as Gally flipped his body to the side and slipped through the gap in the walls as quickly as he could, their hearts beating rapidly, reaching out their arms to grab him and pull him closer, watching as the laces on his shoes got caught under the stone, pulling him back suddenly. Gally shook his foot out of his boot and fell, in a breathless heap at their feet.

"Bloody hell, almost got yourself killed."

"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious, Newt." Gally said, with a weak laugh that resembled more of a cough.

"Hey, at least we lost that thing, whatever it was." Minho said, reaching out a hand to Gally, helping him to his feet. "Lets hope there aren't more."

Thomas

He walked hastily into Janson's office, heading straight for the screen on Janson's desk, which luckily for Thomas, he had left on. Thomas swiftly searched through everything open on the desktop, until he found the list of WCKD employees and associates. He knew who he was looking for, not by name, but by appearance.

He scrolled carefully through the list until he found her.

She had come to speak to him in the control room only two weeks ago. She had said she was about to lose her job doing something she should have done a long time ago, but she needed his help. Thomas, despite not knowing her name, knew he could trust her.

He clicked on her contact details, and copied them down on a piece of paper he had torn from a notepad in the control room earlier. He knew what he'd do with them, as soon as he was alone in the control room, tomorrow perhaps.

He took down the list of employees from Janson's screen, and removed himself from the room quickly, being careful to not move or touch anything unnecessarily.

He headed back past the control room, hoping Janson and Ms Paige would be gone. They weren't. He passed the door and pressed his ear against the glass. He heard Teresa first.

"I think that's enough, Janson. They've had their scare, they're not likely to go back now, are they?"

Janson sighed. "Teresa, you don't have to protect that Newt boy, you're better than Thomas, above him even. I know how much you are willing to put at risk for the cure."

"But don't tell me, Janson, that you feel no guilt and no remorse for what you're doing to these boys?."

"Ah Teresa, of course I do. But as we all know, this is for good. This is to save our world from the virus that envelops it."

Teresa turned her head to look down, to something Thomas couldn't see. He guessed it was the screens, the he was sure Newt would be on.

"Hold off, Janson. Just give them time, to get back safe." Teresa pleaded, blocking the main control panel with her body.

She was being persistent, and not allowing Janson anywhere near the controls. Ms Paige stood further back, unmoving. "Thank you, Teresa" Thomas said.  
He watched her through the glass as she subtly tried to look for him, but he ducked before her eyes could find his.

"Step away, Teresa." Janson said, stepping slowly towards her, his hands lifted up in front of him, ready to set another griever on Newt, Thomas was sure.  
Thomas didn't want to stay much longer, after all, there was nothing he could do.  
He stuck his hand into his pocket and closed it around the crumpled bit of paper.  
For now, anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas does something crazy and faces the consequences.

Thomas 

Thomas sat at the control desk, his hands quivering slightly. The piece of paper was lying on the keypad, slightly ripped at the edges. He had tried his best to smooth it out, so he could read the numbers he had hastily scribbled down more clearly, but he still had to squint in order to make them out. 

'Is that a 5 or a 2?' he muttered under his breath, bringing the paper closer to his face. It didn't help that he was running on very little sleep, and the control room was dark. He had gone after he was sure Teresa had gone to sleep, because he knew she wouldn't be happy with what he was doing. He also wanted to be there, to see if Newt was safe. He barely slept with anxiety. 

In the end, though, Newt, Alby and Minho had made it out, and had collapsed at the feet of the other boys soon after the doors had opened, with barely a scratch. He was grateful for Teresa then, for her persistence in trying to stop WCKD from sending any more grievers to where the boys were. This made Thomas feel guilty. He had a list of all the co-ordinates of all the WCKD compounds open on his screen, and had the intention of sharing all of them with Mary; the woman who's details he had grabbed from Janson's office a day before.

She had lost her job only weeks before, trying to gather the information herself, but was caught. Thankfully, her information had yet to be wiped from the database. Thomas expected this was because Janson was able to track her if she happened to register at another WCKD compound, but Thomas was sure she wasn't dumb enough to do that. 

His hand hovered over the final number. 

What if she wasn't awake? What if the call was bugged and intercepted? He was scared of what would happen. Not so much to himself, but to Mary. He already had enough guilt pressing on his shoulders, he didn't need to be responsible for anything else. But he had to do it. 

He pressed the final number, and placed his headphones on his ears. He heard a beep, one that was unfamiliar to the usual sound he heard when a call was picked up. He waited anxiously. 

"Thomas. This line isn't safe, we don't have much time. Tell me everything you can" A voice said. He knew it was Mary. 

Thomas took a deep breath and spoke rapidly, pausing between co-ordinates, waiting for her to show she had got them down. He was engrossed and focused on giving the numbers, that he didn't hear the door click open behind him. He had reached the set of co-ordinates 3rd from the end, when a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder. 

"Are you sure about what you're doing, Thomas?" A raspy male voice said. Janson. 

As quickly as he could, he hung up the connection with Mary and slipped the piece of paper into the pocket of his jeans. 

"Yes, I am" he said, turning his chair to face Janson, who looked more angry than Thomas had ever seen him. "Haven't you heard, Janson? It's for the greater good"

Janson sighed deeply. "Your time here is over, Thomas. You have no idea what you've done"

His time here? What did that mean? If the state of the world was as bad as they made out, surely they couldn't send Thomas out into the world, just like that. 

"What, you're gonna send me out so I can get sick, and if I don't get sick, I'll burn to death? Sounds like a plan, Janson. You've always been good at them" Thomas said, trying to use humour to disguise how uncomfortable he was feeling. 

"No no no, Thomas. You misunderstand me. You're not going out into the Scorch, you're going down there" Janson said, with a smirk that made Thomas squirm. Janson raised a pointed finger towards the screen in front of Thomas, the one that showed a birds eye view of the Glade.

"You're sending me to the maze?" he yelled, jumping up from his desk, sending his headphones flying. "Chancellor Paige wouldn't let you do that. You can't wipe my memory too. I made this maze what it is" 

He was becoming frantic, and it was just giving Janson more power over him.

"Chancellor Paige already said yes, Thomas. You'd be a valuable addition to the experiment, your reaction to the injection you got back at school has always been fascinating to us"

Thomas felt his heart beating against his ribcage, and his breathing becoming shallow in his chest. He was going to forget everything; everything about his family, everything about himself and most painfully, everything about Newt, just like Newt had forgotten everything about him. 

He was going to come up in that box, and meet Newt and talk to Newt like they were strangers, like they hadn't loved each other, like their relationship had never even existed. Thomas felt his heart sink, to a place of genuine despair. This was it. 

Janson had been speaking to him, but everything felt fuzzy and bleak and he didn't have the energy to listen to him anymore. If he was grateful for anything, it would be never having to see Janson's face again. 

"We're sending you down tomorrow morning. We've pushed the other kid out of the schedule for now. Don't try to resist, it's not worth it" Janson said, watching Thomas walk slowly out of the room. 

Thomas couldn't think. He felt no comfort, even though he knew he'd be seeing Newt again, because he wouldn't be Thomas anymore, and Newt wouldn't be the Newt he once was. He was just going to be a part of a hopeless experiment. 

He walked slowly through the hallway, the bright fluorescent lights making his head ache, the smell of steriliser making him feel nauseous and overpowered. He was headed straight for Teresa's door. 

"Are you up?" he asked, reaching out to her telepathically. 

"Yeah, I am now. What's up?" 

"I'm coming to you. It's urgent" 

"Give me five. I'll leave the door open, but knock first" 

He reached her door and stood outside for a moment, breathing in deeply. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He wasn't afraid of her, but he was afraid of what she would say. As different as their views on WCKD were sometimes, she had always been there for him, and showed up for him, even when she didn't agree with what he was doing. He didn't want her to be disappointed, but he knew she would be. He knocked. 

"Come in, Tom" 

He walked in to her standing in-front of the mirror, brushing her black hair into a bun. He didn't really know what to say, or how to start, so he just stood, staring, feeling slightly calmed by the repetitive movement of the brush running through her hair. 

"Hey, Tom. I thought you said this was urgent? Are you gonna speak to me?" she said, turning around and waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked. 

"It's difficult for me to say. Especially to you" he said, sitting down on her perfectly made bed, leaning against the cold wall. 

"Okay" she said, sitting down beside him and turning to face him, concern in her eyes.

"You're gonna be mad, I know. Just save whatever you have to say until I'm done, okay?" 

She nodded. 

"A WCKD worker, her name was Mary, lost her job, a couple weeks back. She tried to take the co-ordinates to every WCKD compound. She tried to take them, and share them with someone outside. She doesn't like the maze trials, she doesn't like what they're doing here, to those boys." 

Teresa nodded again. 

"She spoke to me, a few days before she was fired. She told me what she was going to do. She knew it'd get her fired, but I got her contact details yesterday, and this morning, I finished what she started. I gave her the co-ordinates to almost every single WCKD compound in the database"

"But then Janson found me. He told me "your time here is up" and at first, I thought he was sending me to the Scorch, to catch the flare and to die, but I misunderstood. He's-" 

Thomas paused, looking at the conflicted feelings of anger and sympathy that were fighting on Teresa's face. 

"He's sending me into the Maze tonight, Teresa. He's wiping my memory and sending me in" 

Teresa  
She held on tightly to Thomas as they hugged, her thumb rubbing his shoulder, in a desperate attempt to provide more comfort to him. He was crying inconsolably, in a state of vulnerability she had never seen him in before, which made her heart break.  
"Tom, it's okay, it's okay" she whispered into his shoulder, feeling his chest jump with the movement of his sobs.  
Thomas hadn't said anything for a few minutes. It was just them in the medical lab, all the doctors and nurses had left at Teresa's request, and she had made sure Janson wouldn't be there. Although she didn't agree with what Thomas did, and didn't think she ever could, she understood why he did it, and it still pained her to think he'd have his memory wiped and would forget her forever.  
She had done something, something she would feel guilty about later, because in truth, it could effect the results, but something that would make Thomas' time in the Maze easier. She hoped it had worked, she stayed up all night creating and altering the formula so it was just right. She had done the same for Newt, but she hadn't told Thomas that. She didn't think they would ever meet again.

"Tom, I'm gonna inject the memory serum, okay?" she said, pushing him gently back off of her, so she could look at him. His face was red and puffy.  
He nodded, taking a few steps back to sit on the bed. Teresa rolled up his sleeve for him, and grabbed the filled tube of memory serum from the table to her right.  
"You okay?" she asked, getting ready to inject the needle, her heart heavy.  
"Wait, Teresa" he said, grabbing her hand.  
"Thank you, for what you did to help me, and to help Newt. I wasn't as grateful as I should've been but you're one of the only people who have always been there for me, who I could always rely on and trust" he paused. "Although, realistically, I can't say I'll never forget it, because I will, in a matter of seconds, but I owe you forever"  
Teresa hugged Thomas then, smiling.  
"Thank you Tom, I'll look after you from up here, I promise"  
Thomas nodded, looking her in the eyes, his entire face softening, tears welling up in his eyes.  
"I'm good to go now Teresa" he said.  
She lifted the serum up to the vein in his arm.  
"Deep breath, Tom. 1,2,3" and she injected it into his blood stream, watching as his eyes closed and opened again to look at hers.  
The security guards came in and grabbed him by his arms, and he was dragged away from her, without looking back. She exhaled sharply and slumped down onto the bed, still warm from where Thomas had been sitting.  
________________________________

He woke up, covered in sweat, his chest heaving. Everything around him was moving, far too quickly, and he suddenly felt dizzy, the side of his vision turning black.  
He winced as the items in the structure around him rattled and clanked together.  
He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, in the hurtling cage that was moving upwards towards the sky. He tried to calm himself, to speak some words of comfort, but suddenly he realised he didn't know who he was. He didn't know his age, where he came from, or even his own name.  
His panic heightened as the metal box moved at the same pace higher and higher up into the sky, showing no sign of slowing down or stopping.  
He clamped his eyes shut, preparing for the inevitable end he was about to meet.

But then he felt the cage grind to a screeching halt, shaking as it did so. The boy lay in the dark, unable to move.  
His eyes were still firmly clamped shut, and his t-shirt stuck uncomfortably to his back, his breath was shallow and quick.  
He heard a click above him, and felt warmth on his skin, and light that he could feel even with his eyes shut. He heard voices, male voices, speaking above him. He heard something creak open, which he assumed was the lid of the cage he was stuck in. He opened his eyes fully now and saw 3 boys standing above him, looking down into the cage.  
One of the boys jumped down into the cage and the boy sat up as he felt heavy boots attached to a tall, muscular boy land beside him.  
"Rise and shine, Greenie" the voice said, reaching out a hand. He took it, pulling himself up. He looked down at himself, to see he had on a faded blue, long sleeved shirt and dark trousers, and some trainers too. He didn't remember getting dressed, or where these clothes were from, but he was grateful he wasn't sitting there butt naked.

The other boy helped him climb out of the cage, letting him sit down on the dry ground when he was out, allowing him to take in his surroundings.  
His eyes firstly met with a muscular - and attractive - Asian boy, who smiled weakly at him. Beside him, was a black boy with a warm smile, that briefly comforted him.  
"Nice to meet ya greenie. I'm Frypan, but you can call me Fry" the second boy said, waving at him.  
He blinked in the sunlight, his mouth dry, no words that were sufficient for how he felt coming into his head.  
'Weird name' he thought to himself, pushing a hand off the ground and standing up.  
The boy who had helped him out of the cage stood in front of him, eyebrows raised, a smirk on his face.  
"I'm Gally"  
He nodded. "I'm-" he paused, and tried again, pushing his brain "I'm-"  
The boy who had said his name was Frypan took a step forward and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  
"It'll take a while for your name to come back, but it will eventually. Don't stress about it greenbean"  
"Why does everyone keep calling me green? What's that about?" he said aloud, taking a step back from Gally.  
"It's what we call the new people that arrive here. You think it's weird?" the Asian boy said.  
"A little" he replied.  
"Knew it. Why'd you call him that I thought we were gonna let that nickname go, shuckface" the Asian boy replied, shaking his head, clearly directing his speech towards Gally.  
"Shut it, Minho. It was Alby's idea, not mine" Gally replied.

The boy brought his focus away from the boys around him and lifted his head. He was immediately speechless at what lay before him.  
They stood in the centre of a large mass of grass, surrounded by large, towering stone walls that covered the whole perimeter. There were very few buildings, but they all seemed to be made by hand, with wood he only assumed had been gathered from the forest that stood on the outskirts of the grassy plain.  
"What is this place?" he asked, turning his entire body to get a view of every inch.  
"We call it the glade" a voice called out, that he hadn't heard before.  
The owner of the voice came up to him and put out his hand. He was black and tall and appeared the oldest and by the way the other boys were silent, he assumed this was their leader. "I'm Alby. First in command"  
He was correct.  
"And what's that?" he asked, gesturing to the gap in the stone walls he could see from where he was standing.  
"Don't worry about that just yet" Alby said, trying to bring the boys attention elsewhere, but he was already running towards the structures that seemed to him like doors.  
"Hey, you don't wanna be doing that" Alby said, chasing after him.  
Alby managed to catch him by the arm, and pulled him sharply back.  
"I'll tell you all about that later, I promise" he said, smiling weakly. "You know your name yet, greenbean?"  
He had begun to shake his head when he heard footsteps to the left of where he was standing, he tried to look for the source but the sun was in his eyes. The footsteps drew nearer. He then heard a crash, and the splashing of water on the ground. They guy must've been carrying some water buckets or something.

"T-Tho-" the voice stuttered, which he could barely understand. Whatever the person was trying to say came out strangled and choked.  
"No, no it can't be. That's not possible. This isn't possible" the voice said, clearly frantic and upset. The sun was moments from dropping behind the walls, and before he could clearly see the face of the other boy, there was a yell.  
"Thomas?"  
He felt arms around him, familiar, safe arms, holding him tight and close. Familiar blonde hair, a familiar smell. It couldn't be. How could he remember?

"Newt?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the most recent chapter i've written, so the next update will come after i've written the next two chapters. i very much doubt anyone will actually read this far, especially since it's already on wattpad, but i uploaded it on the off chance :) thank u if u have read this far


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